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PROSPECTS for a peace deal in eastern Ukraine brightened last night after President Petro Poroshenko and pro-Russian resistance forces both signified willingness to sign, albeit with conditions.
Mr Poroshenko said that he was ready to order a ceasefire today if a peace deal is signed at talks in the Belarus capital Minsk.
Rebel forces also declared their readiness to sign a truce if agreement is reached on a political settlement for the mostly Russian-speaking region.
The Ukrainian president had discussed the outlines of a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday and both men had voiced optimism about reaching an agreement in Minsk.
However, the situation has been complicated by the Nato summit in Newport, south Wales, with posturing and rhetoric being deployed for the media by politicians.
Mr Poroshenko met the leaders of all 28 Nato member states yesterday and was told that, while membership for Ukraine was not imminent, Kiev would receive an increase in non-lethal aid for its military.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned in Moscow that statements by Kiev officials to the effect that Ukraine was seeking to join the cold war alliance were “a blatant attempt to derail all the efforts” to seek a peaceful solution to the fighting.
The anti-fascist rebels have made substantial advances against Ukrainian forces over the past two weeks, including opening a new front along the Sea of Azov coast.
That offensive has raised concerns that the rebels intend to take back control of Mariupol, a major port of about 500,000 people, in order to secure a land corridor between Russia and Crimea.
Sabre-rattling Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen accused the Russians of continued meddling in eastern Ukraine despite President Putin’s proclamation of a peace plan.
“So we continue to call on Russia to pull back its troops from Ukrainian borders, stop the flow of weapons and fighters into Ukraine, stop the support for armed militants in Ukraine and engage in a constructive political process,” he said.
Kiev’s national security council spokesman Colonel Andriy Lysenko said yesterday that 837 Ukrainian servicemen had been killed and 3,044 wounded since fighting began in April.
