Renewed bloodshed in Donetsk clouds hopes for Ukraine summit

Deadly violence has intensified in eastern Ukraine, as doubts clouded a planned international summit on the conflict and Kiev sought urgent financial help for its ailing economy. Ukraine’s military says four servicemen and two civilians were killed on Friday in shelling near Donetsk airport, which has been the epicentre of fighting that has claimed more than 4,700 lives and displaced about one million people.

Four soldiers and seven civilians were also injured in the artillery fire, which Kiev and the rebels blamed on each other. Hostilities escalated in recent days after a month of relative calm, triggered by a truce deal that reinforced a September 5th “ceasefire” agreed in the Belarusian capital, Minsk.

That pact reduced – but failed to halt – deadly clashes between troops and separatist rebels, but its broad framework for a possible peace deal is still seen by Ukraine and its western allies as the best basis for resolving the conflict.

Ukraine’s president Petro Poroshenko recently announced plans to hold talks on the crisis with the leaders of Russia, Germany and France on January 15th in the Kazakh capital, Astana, but the summit is yet to be confirmed.

Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbayev discussed the meeting with German chancellor Angela Merkel during a visit to Berlin yesterday and also spoke about the same issue by telephone with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

During a conference call yesterday, the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France agreed to meet in Berlin on Monday to discuss the leaders’ summit. French president François Hollande has warned that the talks will only take place if real progress could be made, but Germany’s foreign ministry yesterday said the states involved should do their utmost to reinvigorate a stalled peace process.

Kiev and western powers reject Moscow’s claim that it is not providing military help to the rebels, and demand that Russia fulfil a pledge to close its border with eastern Ukraine to halt the flow of fighters and weapons to the separatists.

Dr Merkel said on Thursday she had “little hope” for the lifting of western sanctions imposed on Russia for its annexation of Crimea last March, and that other sanctions could be cancelled only if “the entire Minsk agreement is fulfilled”.

Germany agreed to extend €500 million in credit guarantees for Kiev and the EU has proposed offering Ukraine an additional €1.8 billion in aid, having provided €1.4 billion last year. Officials from the International Monetary Fund are now in Kiev discussing disbursement of the next urgently needed tranches of a $17 billion (€14.3 billion) aid deal.

Analysts say Kiev needs an additional $15 billion (€12.7 billion), however, and billionaire financier George Soros has urged the EU to create a $50 billion (€42 billion) rescue package for Ukraine. “Europe needs to wake up and recognise that it is under attack from Russia,” the Hungarian-born hedge fund tycoon said. “Assisting Ukraine should also be considered as a defence expenditure by the European Union countries.”