Putin Says 7-Day Ukraine Truce 'Too Short', U.S. Welcomes Call to Revoke Force Mandate
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday urged Kiev to extend the shaky truce with insurgents in eastern Ukraine and launch talks despite them shooting down a helicopter with nine on board.
The Russian strongman said he had asked senators to rescind a resolution allowing him to invade Ukraine in order to encourage a "peace process" but vouched at the same time to always protect the interests of Russians in the neighboring country.
"We will always protect ethnic Russians in Ukraine," Putin said after meeting Austrian counterpart Heinz Fischer in Vienna and inking a major pipeline deal. "I hope that armed forces will not be necessary for this."
Putin said the request to use the army in Ukraine was originally made due to the "situation in Crimea," the Black Sea peninsula Moscow annexed in March to a global outcry, and that he decided to recall it because he "wants to create conditions for the peace process."
In particular, he called on Kiev to extend the truce and begin negotiations with the east "about the future organization of Ukraine" which would grant more rights to its separatist regions.
"It is not enough to announce a ceasefire, there should be the beginning of negotiations," he said.
"If we keep hearing, here is seven days ... and then this time is not used for a single attempt at reaching an agreement with eastern Ukraine, then all the efforts will be in vain, there will be no result."
The Russian leader made the unexpected appeal to the upper chamber of parliament earlier Tuesday, a move welcomed by Washington and Ukraine's Western-backed President Petro Poroshenko, who hailed it as "the first practical step taken by the Russian president" in support of his peace plan.
Putin said that forsaking his right to use military force in Ukraine would not mean that Russia stops paying attention to its interests abroad.
Later on Tuesday, the White House welcomed Putin's call to Russian lawmakers to revoke his authorization to invade Ukraine.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest however said that Washington, which has threatened further sanctions on Moscow, wanted to see clear evidence of a change in Russian behavior.
"We do ... welcome any Russian steps to end the crisis in Ukraine, including President Putin's request to the Duma to revoke a resolution authorizing the use of Russian military forces in Ukraine," said Earnest.
"We also welcome the separatists' acceptance of the cease-fire and call on them to abide by it, and we certainly are supportive of any comments from President Putin about the value of a cease-fire agreement."
"That said, in the coming days ... it's actions, not just words, that will be critical," he added.
The surprise reversal of the decision comes amid the threat of tougher Western sanctions against Moscow and could help spur fragile peace initiatives to end fighting in eastern Ukraine after pro-Russian rebels agreed Monday to a temporary government ceasefire.
Source: Agence France Presse
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