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UKRAINIAN FORCES SUFFERED fresh losses today in a rebel raid in the separatist east as the newly-elected president promised to hold his first talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin on easing the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War.
The volunteer National Guard said gunmen had sprung a surprise raid on their barracks in the flashpoint Lugansk region near Russia that had been under effective rebel control since early April.
“There have been losses both in the ranks of the military unit and the attacking side,” the National Guard said in a brief statement.
The militants’ strike came a day after Ukraine claimed to have regained control of the rust belt region’s main international airport in Donetsk after its most ferocious attack of the seven-week campaign which left more than 40 guerrillas dead.
Some analysts think Kiev has ratcheted up its offensive believing that the 40-point margin of Petro Poroshenko’s victory on Sunday will make it hard for Moscow to question his legitimacy and order its troops to “protect” the east’s ethnic Russians.
The Kremlin reaffirmed on Wednesday that it “respected” the will of Ukraine’s voters but also denounced the army’s “provocative” actions as another step toward strife and discontent.
“There can be no justification for the punitive operation being conducted by the Kiev authorities,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
But Poroshenko — a 48-year old confectionary tycoon who backs closer ties with Europe but once held a top cabinet post under ousted pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych — said he would conduct direct negotiations with Putin soon.
“We will hold talks with Putin in order to ease the situation and make peace. When and where these talks will take place, is not yet decided,” he told Germany’s Bild daily.
The political veteran was responding to a question on whether talks with Putin were planned for next week’s D-Day commemorations in France to which both he and the Russian leader are invited.
The 6 June Normandy gathering will also be attended by US President Barack Obama, providing Western leaders with their first chance to speak to Putin since Europe’s worst security crisis in decades erupted in March with Russia’s seizure of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula.
Putin had rejected the legitimacy of the interim team that rose to power in February and not been reported to have spoken to any Ukrainian official since the Kiev uprising.
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It’s a pity this country doesn’t have a strong leader like Putin! Can you imagine him beggaring his own people to pay unsecured bank debt?
Yes I would love to live under Putin where press freedom is one of the lowest in the world, elections are suspect at best, minority groups and charities wonder when the next restrictive laws will be brought in and the international community distrusts or openly despises you.
Sounds like a utopia…
Could be North Korea. Russia seems ok with a few outdated laws.
Mr Putin showed his generosity when took Crimea people under safe wings to prevent killing them by Ukraines
“Mr Putin showed his generosity when took Crimea people under safe wings to prevent killing them by Ukraines”
Showed his generosity by forcibly seizing a military port which Russia stood the possibility of losing access to and forging a referendum to make it look like people wanted it? If that’s Putin showing his generosity then he can keep it to himself in the future.
If USA didn’t interfere with Ukrainians politics none of this would have happened.
I guess these deaths are deserved, while the militia, people who do not respect life at all unless you follow there views are ‘massacred’ by fascists, right Frank?
Graham Kavanagh…. Its the western fascists that are fanning the flames in this conflict.
Frank, maybe, but you paint Eastern Fascists and Islamic terrorists as saints…….
I am talking Globalization……..NATO expansion across the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Africa and using terrorism as a means to over throw legitimate Governments.
The only Islamic terrorists one should really fear are those trained by US Government .. The armed Christian Murdering head hackers in Syria (And the possibility of them spreading their terrorism to other countries even more so using weapons provided by the US such as anti Aircraft mortars.
“There can be no justification for the punitive operation being conducted by the Kiev authorities,”
Hypocrisy of the highest order. When Russian Forces flattened Grozney under Putin did Putin think the above? Or maybe when they invaded Georgia or sent Troops into Moldovia they were self critical.
Actually here’s how you do hypocrisy
John Kerry: “You don’t just invade another country on a phony pretext in order to assert your interest”. The fact that Kerry delivered that line with a straight face will put him in the history books as a definition of hypocrisy.
John when Russian Troops were shelling Grozney was there Justification for it? When Russian Troops invaded Georgia was there Justification for it? When Russian Troops invaded Ukrainian territory was there Justification for it? This is not about the US. This is about Russian hypocricy.
And the LGBT community would love it too
You’re sicko
Countdown to Gerry using the word fascist in 10…
its actually Nicole. I’m guessing her other account got banned and rightly so for the bile she was spouting
The Ukraine forces “claimed to regain” the airport. Yesterday there was no doubt. Interesting change in tack. And now Poroshenko wishes to talk. It seems difficult to tell the exact situation. Let’s hope for talks and that Poroshenko is actually interested in peace.
I believe Poroshenko stated in his acceptance speech that there would be NO negotiation with Terrorists and likened them to Somali Pirates.
Poroshenko….Don’t drink the tea!!!
Kiev is faced with no different a situation than Dublin faced at the time of independence – a migration of Russian people to the east of Ukraine during the soviet days and now these people want to split the countrty – they do not even hold the majority opinion in many of the areas their gunmen are controlling.
have your say