German chancellor Angela Merkel (in pic) flew in to the Ukrainian capital on Saturday and said she wanted to help end a crisis over Ukraine which flared again after Russia sent a convoy of trucks into Ukraine without Kiev’s permission.
Making her first visit to Ukraine since the conflict broke out four months ago in the east of the country between pro-Moscow separatists and government forces, Merkel went into talks with Ukraine president Petro Poroshenko.
In brief remarks at the start of their talks, the German leader said she came to Kiev ‘in a difficult time which is focussed on the unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine.’
‘I hope we will be able to discuss bilateral problems and support from Germany as well as the path towards peace, which must be found,’ she said. Hours before her plane landed in Kiev, there was heavy artillery bombardment in Donetsk, the main separatist stronghold on the east of Ukraine, near the border with Russia. The unusually intense shelling may be part of a drive by government forces to achieve a breakthrough against the rebels in time for Ukrainian Independence Day, which falls on Sunday.
Diplomats say Merkel has two aims for the visit: primarily to show support for Kiev in its stand-off with Russia and urge Poroshenko to be open to peace proposals when he meets Vladimir Putin next week.
Making her first visit to Ukraine since the conflict broke out four months ago in the east of the country between pro-Moscow separatists and government forces, Merkel went into talks with Ukraine president Petro Poroshenko.
In brief remarks at the start of their talks, the German leader said she came to Kiev ‘in a difficult time which is focussed on the unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine.’
‘I hope we will be able to discuss bilateral problems and support from Germany as well as the path towards peace, which must be found,’ she said. Hours before her plane landed in Kiev, there was heavy artillery bombardment in Donetsk, the main separatist stronghold on the east of Ukraine, near the border with Russia. The unusually intense shelling may be part of a drive by government forces to achieve a breakthrough against the rebels in time for Ukrainian Independence Day, which falls on Sunday.
Diplomats say Merkel has two aims for the visit: primarily to show support for Kiev in its stand-off with Russia and urge Poroshenko to be open to peace proposals when he meets Vladimir Putin next week.