Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Russian President Putin: Kiev Must Stop Military Operation In East Ukraine

Russia's President Vladimir Putin meets with a group of foreign journalists on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2014 (SPIEF 2014) in St. Petersburg May 24, 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that a new Cold War with the West over Ukraine was unlikely. East-West relations have reached their lowest level since the end of the Cold War two decades ago with a fall of the Soviet Union, over the crisis in Ukraine. Credit: Reuters/Mikhail Klimentyev/RIA Novosti/Kremlin

Putin Says Kiev Must Stop Military Operation In East Ukraine -- Reuters

(Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Tuesday for an immediate halt to Ukraine's military operation against pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country.

In his first reported comments on Ukraine since its presidential election on Sunday, Putin also stepped up pressure on Kiev to start a dialogue with the rebel leaders as fighting raged in east Ukraine.

The Kremlin said Putin had spoken to Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi by telephone and "underscored the need for an immediate halt to the punitive military operation in the southeastern regions and the establishment of peaceful dialogue between Kiev and representatives of the regions."

Moscow has amassed troops on the frontier with Ukraine during the crisis, in which Ukraine's Moscow-basked president was ousted and Russia annexed the Crimea region from Ukraine, but said last week they had started to withdraw.

NATO has noted, however, that many still remain.

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My Comment:  Here is an easy prediction .... Kiev is not going to comply.

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