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Russian President Vladimir Putin to Meet With Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko

DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC. 11:31 AM ET 08/19/14


Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet his Ukrainian counterpart next week for the first time in two months, the Kremlin said Tuesday, as pressure from Moscow and Europe grows on Kiev to end its attacks on pro-Russia separatists amid a humanitarian crisis.


The meeting in Minsk, Belarus, on Aug. 26, which will also be attended by European Union officials, would be the first time the presidents of the ex-Soviet neighbors have met since an encounter in France in June shortly before Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko took office.

Renewed diplomatic efforts have so far failed to stop the fierce fighting as Kiev's army appears to be gaining the upper hand in its attempt to oust the separatists from several town and cities in Ukraine's east. A cease-fire could complicate Ukraine's efforts, potentially giving time to the rebels to reorganize and retrench.

Kiev blames Russia for aiding the rebels with men and weapons. Moscow denies this, and accuses Ukraine of sparking a humanitarian crisis by using its army to try to quell the uprising. The fighting has increasingly affected civilians, with more than 2,000 people, both fighters and not, killed during the four-month struggle.

The announcement of a new meeting came as Ukrainian officials said they recovered 15 bodies of civilians they accuse the rebels of killing in a rocket attack on a convoy fleeing the besieged separatist-controlled city of Luhansk.

Col. Andriy Lysenko, spokesman for Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council said the bodies had been recovered on Monday, but fighting at the site meant the search for others had to be stopped. The rebels deny the attack ever took place.

The army accused the rebels of trying to destroy evidence by blocking the area and preventing military experts and journalists from getting a closer look by shooting at them.

In videos posted on its Facebook page, the army showed what it said were survivors of the attack. Elderly men describe how they and others were evacuated in two army trucks with white flags attached to indicate civilians were inside. One of the trucks was hit by a mortar and destroyed, sending shrapnel flying into the second truck, killing two and injuring four, one of them says.

In a separate clip, a woman standing next to a young man lying on a hospital bed with a heavily bandaged leg says his mother was in a truck that was hit. "As we were trying to overtake them, shrapnel [started flying] at us," she says.

Luhansk, a city that was once home to 400,000 people, has particularly suffered through the conflict. Water and electricity supplies have been cut off for weeks. The Luhansk city council said Tuesday that shelling near the city's central market had killed and wounded several civilians.

The plight of civilians caught in the conflict zone has led to a diplomatic standoff between the Kiev government and Russia over 300 trucks Moscow has sent to the border carrying what it says is humanitarian aid.

The convoy remains stalled at a border crossing as Kiev--fearful that the trucks may be carrying weapons--insists they be inspected and that delivery be handled by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The Red Cross says it won't inspect the trucks until it receives security guarantees amid the heavy fighting. On Tuesday, Red Cross spokeswoman Galina Balsamova said she expects to receive such guarantees at some point for the inspection of the convoy to get started, although the exact timing remained uncertain.

"The time frame is from five minutes to eternity," Ms. Balsamova said.

In a phone conversation with Red Cross President Peter Maurer on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Ukraine of causing an "alarming delay," and insisted the matter be resolved immediately, the foreign ministry said.

Kiev says it was the rebels who failed to cooperate in making security guarantees. On Tuesday, insurgent leader Andrei Purgin said the separatist authorities were ready to allow Red Cross officials to accompany the trucks into rebel territory without conditions.

"Let them come and work. We are open for cooperation," Mr. Purgin told the Interfax news agency.

Col. Lysenko said a team of three Red Cross officials would set off for Luhansk on Tuesday to help organize the aid delivery.

The planned talks between Mr. Poroshenko and Mr. Putin come amid an uptick in diplomatic efforts.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to Kiev on Saturday to meet with Mr. Poroshenko, her spokesman said. The talks would focus on the security situation in Ukraine, its relationship to Russia, and explore "concrete possibilities to support Ukraine in the current crisis," Ms. Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said.

On Sunday, German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier hosted a meeting of his French, Ukrainian and Russian counterparts in Berlin to discuss humanitarian assistance to the region and a possible cease-fire, although the talks ended after five hours without a clear outcome.

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said he'd received an invitation from Mr. Putin and Mr. Poroshenko for next week's talks. He said he would send Catherine Ashton, the EU's foreign policy chief; Karel De Gucht, its trade commissioner; and Günther Oettinger, a vice president of the European Council responsible for energy.

Representatives of Belarus and Kazakhstan, who are part of the Russia-led Customs Union, will also attend.

Olga Razumovskaya and James Marson contributed to this article.

Write to Andrey Ostroukh at [e-mail] and Lukas I. Alpert at [e-mail]

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
08-19-141131ET
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