Putin's peace plan: Ukraine withdraws from east
 

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KIEV, Ukraine (AP) ? A day ahead of a NATO summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued his own peace plan for eastern Ukraine, calling on the Russian-backed insurgents there to "stop advancing" and urging Ukraine to withdraw its troops from the region.

Hours earlier, Ukraine had issued a vague statement about agreeing with Putin on cease-fire steps. The separatists rejected the move, saying no cease-fire was possible without a pullback by Ukraine, while Putin's spokesman claimed that Moscow could not agree to a cease-fire because it was not a party to the conflict.

The back-and-forth came as President Barack Obama arrived in Estonia in a show of solidarity with NATO allies who fear they could be the next target of Russia's aggression. NATO is holding a summit in Wales on Thursday, with plans to approve a rapid-response team to counter the Russian threat.

Putin, for his part, is eager to avoid further international sanctions that could hurt his resource-based economy. Amid the diplomatic chess match, a Ukrainian official said the bodies of 87 soldiers had been retrieved from southeastern Ukraine. Mykhailo Logvinov, a military official in Zaporizhye, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying the soldiers were killed near the eastern city of Ilovaysk, the scene of a horrific government defeat over the weekend. He said the remains were being identified by local forensic experts.

Putin, speaking in the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator, said he came up with a 7-point peace plan on the plane trip there ? one in which Kiev must withdraw its troops and stop its artillery strikes. "The warring parties should immediately coordinate and do the following things together," Putin said in televised comments. "The first thing is for the armed forces and insurgents of the south-east of Ukraine to stop active advancing in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

"Second is for the Ukrainian military to withdraw their troops at a safe distance that will make artillery and other strikes on populated areas impossible," he added. Putin also urged an unconditional exchange of prisoners and said he expected a final agreement between Kiev and the rebels to be reached Friday at peace talks in Minsk, Belarus.

The Interfax news agency later carried positive remarks from top rebel commander Miroslav Rudenko, who said "there'll be no sense in a military solution to the conflict" if Kiev was to withdraw its troops.

Stock markets jumped on first reports of a possible cease-fire deal, but later eased back slightly. By early afternoon in Europe, Russia's MICEX benchmark was up 2.7 percent, while the ruble rose 1.4 percent against the U.S. dollar.

Germany's DAX index, which has been particularly sensitive to news regarding the Ukrainian crisis because of the country's economic ties with Russia, was up 1.2 percent. Rebel leader said earlier this week that they would respect Ukraine's sovereignty in exchange for autonomy ? a shift from earlier calls for full independence or possible absorption into Russia. Putin has ignored their calls for annexation ? unlike in March, when Russia annexed Crimea.


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yea strange move by the Ukrainian Government.. but apparently they're losing ground and equipment in a bad way

i think there is also the issue of all the dead refugees pictures coming out

or.. or.. or.. hear me out.. Russian troops back out of the country of Ukraine which is not their own. Just think about it. It could work.

Sounds fucking reasonable to me.

Maybe, just maybe... the solution is for all those pro-Russians living in Ukraine to move to Russia?

I mean, if they love it so much why not just go there?

russian map updated in 2015 :2 cents::2 cents:

I'm just curious, have the Russians that couldn't stop calling the Ukrainians fascists and Nazis finally realized they are playing the Nazis this time around?

the comparison is a fucking joke!

I don't understand this either.... If you like Russia so much, you should move there. Where you live is not Russia and it should never be allowed to become Russia.

So if 50% population is Russian and other 50% is Ukrainian in the city . So you are saying all Russians will have to move ? Why people can't decide if they want to become Russia or Ukraine because Ukraine government doesn't give a fuck.

Because the land belongs to Ukraine.

Why can't I take over your house and land and proclaim it part of the USA if this is your argument?

There are a lot of Russians living in USA and Canada. Should they be allowed to carve out a huge chunk of those countries as well and cecede if they wish?

Fact is they'd get told to go back to Russia. Just like Ukraine should tell them.

that being said, should their votes not count?

not count so much, we send tanks and soldiers and carpet bomb their homes cause they just don't belong..

There are about 10 million Russians living in USA and Canada. That's peanuts comparing to 300 million population. That's 3% is nothing. Once we have 20%-40% or more then things will get complicated.

Why does it get complicated?

It's not part of the country of Russia whether 0 or 100 percent of the population are Russian immigrants.

Russia is invading Ukraine like they did Crimea, and they're going to hold the land route to Crimea when this is all done. Seems to be just a strategic land grab. Saves a bunch of shipping or plane hopping into Crimea to have a land route. Congrats to the winners?

This plus the industrial and farm areas they will consume in the process.

Maybe the Chinese should consider this strategy to annex part of Russia. Then they would have a land route to Western Europeans that consume their goods.

Yes you can take over my house if there anything will be left from it

http://media.washtimes.com/media/ima...1f6c08f69a4c6b

The mainstream media isn't saying a word about this, but Russia is likely after eastern Ukraine for the shale oil deposits. They are the third largest in Europe. Worth huge money.