French President Francois Hollande today became the first European leader to fly to Russia in an attempt to defuse the standoff with Vladimir Putin over Ukraine, where the latest round of peace talks will take place next week.
Meeting with Putin in the diplomatic terminal of an airport outside the capital, Hollande said he hoped to stop a new Berlin wall from appearing in Europe, as the conflict in eastern Ukraine plunged its relations with Moscow to a post-Cold War low.
"There are times when we need to seize opportunities. This is such a time... I think we must prevent other walls from separating us," said Hollande, who also spoke to Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko earlier in the day.
"We must find solutions together," he told the Russian leader, who this week gave a militant speech accusing the West of undermining Russia.
As the two sat across from one another, Putin said there are "difficult problems" at hand but that he was sure the visit would "without a doubt contribute to the resolution of many problems," one of which was bound to be Hollande's decision to delay delivery of a Mistral-class helicopter carrier to the Russian navy.
Hollande's last-minute visit, which a source in his delegation said was also agreed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, comes as Kiev announced a fresh round of talks with the pro-Russian separatists next week.
The talks in Belarussian capital Minsk will traditionally include envoys from Russia and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and will aim to "confirm the timetable for implementing the (original) Minsk agreements," Poroshenko said while on a visit to Kharkiv region.
Ukraine and the rebels, whose fighting in the east has already claimed more than 4,300 lives, have agreed to suspend military operations on December 9, calling it a "Day of Silence".
"In the subsequent 30 days, (the sides) must pull back (heavy weapons) from the demilitarisation zone outlined in the Minsk Protocol," Poroshenko said.
The pro-Kiev governor of the eastern Lugansk region Gennadiy Moskal today said two civilians had been killed in a village 15 kilometres northwest of Lugansk, while a security spokesman alleged that a convoy of more than 100 trucks and armoured vehicles had moved across the border from Russia on Friday.
