India says Canada has not shared any specific evidence or information yet
Paris/Kiev, The leaders of Germany and France announced a new peace plan for Ukraine on Thursday, flying to Kiev with a new proposal they would then take on to Moscow. The importance of reaching a deal was demonstrated by a dramatic collapse in Ukraine’s hryvnia currency, which lost nearly a third of its value after the central bank halted daily auctions at which it sold hard currency to banks. Nearly bankrupt Kiev is trying to negotiate a bailout from the International Monetary Fund, but many analysts think securing loans is impossible as long as no ceasefire is in place in the war zone in the east. The coordinated trip by Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Francois Hollande comes as rebels advanced on a railway hub held by Ukrainian troops after launching an offensive that scuppered a five-month-old ceasefire. With Washington talking of arming Ukraine for the first time, US Secretary of State John Kerry also visited Kiev on Thursday. He had no plans to go to Moscow and was not involved in the Franco-German initiative, although he supported it. Moscow confirmed plans for the meeting with Merkel and Hollande and said it hoped the talks would be “constructive”. A presidential aide in Kiev said it awaited the talks with “restrained optimism”. The Franco-German plan looks like an eleventh-hour bid by Europe’s core powers to halt the escalation of the conflict ahead of diplomatic deadlines that are likely to make east-west confrontation even worse. German and French officials gave few details in public of the substance of their new proposals for fear of damaging the delicate diplomacy involved. Kiev and its Western allies want all forces to return to lines agreed in a September truce. — Reuters
US will not ‘close eyes’ to Russian forces
Kiev: US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday Russian aggression in the east was the greatest threat to Ukraine and that Washington, while seeking a diplomatic solution, would not “close our eyes” to Russian tanks and fighters crossing the border. Speaking after talks in Kiev with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Kerry demanded an immediate commitment by Moscow to a ceasefire agreement for eastern Ukraine that it, Kiev and the pro-Russian rebels signed in Minsk last September.
‘Threat to Moscow if US gives Kiev arms
‘ Moscow: Moscow would see any decision by the US to give Ukraine lethal arms as a threat to its security, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said. He was responding to calls in Washington and Kiev for the US government to arm Ukrainian government forces fighting Russian-backed separatists in east Ukraine. — Reuters19 civilians, troops killed in Ukraine Kiev: Fourteen civilians and five government soldiers have been killed in fighting in east Ukraine over the past 24 hours, government and rebel officials said on Thursday. Pro-Russian separatists said shelling killed eight residents and wounded 33 more around their stronghold Donetsk.
— AFP
