Merkel: Germany, France to use 'all power' for Ukraine peace

By KH디지털2

Published : Feb. 6, 2015 - 20:56

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BERLIN (AP)--German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday that she and French President Francois Hollande will “use all our power” while visiting Moscow to try and stop the bloodshed in eastern Ukraine.

Speaking Friday before flying to Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin, Merkel said she couldn't speculate on whether she and Hollande, who were in Kiev for talks Thursday with the Ukrainian government, would be able to achieve a cease-fire on the basis of a peace plan agreed upon last year.

“The French president and I have decided to do something against this escalation and to use all our power with direct visits to Kiev and to Moscow today to stop the bloodshed as soon as possible and to fill the Minsk agreement with life,” Merkel told reporters in Berlin.

Fighting between Russian-backed rebels and the government in Kiev has surged in the last month in eastern Ukraine, fueling fears the conflict is threatening Europe's overall security.

Russia has vehemently denied backing the rebels with troops and weapons. The top NATO commander, U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, said Thursday, however, that Russia continues to supply the separatists with heavy, state-of-the-art weapons, air defenses and fighters.

“We are convinced that there's no military solution to this conflict,” said Merkel. “But we also know that it's completely open whether we will manage to achieve a cease-ire with these talks. We don't know if this will happen today or whether further talks are necessary, whether these will be long or short talks in Moscow.”

Merkel rejected reports that she and Hollande were prepared to offer more territory to the Ukraine separatists, saying, as chancellor, “I will never deal with territorial questions over another country.”

Merkel said she and Hollande “aren't traveling as neutral mediators” but in a bid to safeguard “national self-determination, which is part of the European order.”

A European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to discuss the trip publicly, said the two leaders would be carrying a message from Kiev to Moscow on what Ukraine's position is, but that there would likely not be negotiations on the substance of a peace deal.

Merkel: Germany, France to use 'all power' for Ukraine peace

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