Putin: Ukraine crisis cannot be solved militarily

Russian President Vladimir Putin said today that the Ukraine crisis cannot be resolved by military means, while his counterpart Petro Poroshenko said the best way is to establish effective border controls between the two countries.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) shakes hands with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko in Minsk. Photo: Reuters.

"We are ready to exchange opinions on the current urgent crisis situation in Ukraine. We believe that it cannot be resolved by military escalation measures, without taking into account vital interests in the southeast, without peaceful dialogue with representatives of this region," Itar-tass news agency quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin as saying at a summit between leaders of the countries in the Customs Union of Russia - Belarus - Kazakhstan, Ukraine and representatives of the European Commission (EC) in the capital Minsk, Belarus.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian president defended the peace plan he presented in June, but the separatists in the Donbass region have ignored this proposal. "The key condition for stabilizing the situation in Donbass is effective control of the Russian-Ukrainian border and blocking the supply of weapons to the separatists by all means," Reuters quoted Mr. Poroshenko as saying, adding that he would listen to all options that could bring peace to Ukraine.

The summit in Minsk today was the first face-to-face meeting between President Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Poroshenko since June 6. Mr. Poroshenko avoided mentioning Mr. Putin's name directly and only said "the presence of the leadership of the Russian Federation."

Earlier, Ukraine announced the capture of 10 Russian paratroopers in the village of Dzerkalne, about 50 km from the separatist stronghold of Donetsk, and accused Russia of sending troops to invade its neighboring country. RIA Novosti news agency quoted a source from the Russian Defense Ministry as saying that the group of soldiers crossed the border by accident and said they cooperated with the Ukrainian army while being captured. The source also said that Ukrainian soldiers had entered Russian territory on a larger scale many times, carrying weapons, but Moscow did not make a big deal of it and allowed them to return.

Video of Russian President Putin shaking hands with his Ukrainian counterpart Poroshenko

According to vnexpress