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Ukraine crisis: EU still divided?

PR dla Zagranicy
John Beauchamp 07.02.2015 13:26
Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, a leading Polish MEP has said that “Donald Tusk and Federica Mogherini should be leading talks in Moscow and Kiev, not [German Chancellor] Angela Merkel and [French President] Francois Hollande”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (C), German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) and French President Francois Hollande (R) talk during their meeting at the Moscow Kremlin, Russia, 06.02.2015. Photo: PAP/EPA/SERGEI ILNITSKYRussian President Vladimir Putin (C), German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) and French President Francois Hollande (R) talk during their meeting at the Moscow Kremlin, Russia, 06.02.2015. Photo: PAP/EPA/SERGEI ILNITSKY

Speaking to Polish Radio on Friday, Saryusz-Wolski, a member of the EP’s Delegation to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, said that a diplomatic mission of two key EU leaders but not of the EU’s top players – Council President Donald Tusk and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini – proves that the EU is still deeply divided on the Ukraine conflict.

“Vladimir Putin is conducting a ‘divide and rule’ policy towards the EU, and unfortunately we have taken the bait,” Saryusz-Wolski said.

According to the MEP, the EU has left an “empty chair” on the Ukraine issue, meaning that Putin can place who he wants on it. Saryusz-Wolski believes that this situation is bad for Poland, saying “it is in [Poland’s] interests to have a strong EU which speaks in one voice, even if it were a stance which we wouldn’t back 100 percent.”

Saryusz-Wolski maintained that the Donbas conflict has an influence on Poland as the biggest EU country in the region.

“We are geographically closest to Moscow, we are paying the highest political price for Moscow’s ostracism and it is us who are paying the highest economic price,” the MEP underlined.

“Russia didn’t want [Poland] to be involved in the negotiations regarding the Ukraine conflict, Ukraine itself did not call on us and our partners from the Weimar Triangle [France and Germany] have forgotten about us,” Saryusz-Wolski maintained.

Talks in progress

Meanwhile, the Russian, French and German leaders and Germany agreed in Moscow on Friday to work on renewed peace efforts, describing talks as being “constructive”, the BBC reports.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Angela Merkel said that the plan worth trying, but “it is uncertain if it will succeed”. Merkel also added that the ongoing conflict “cannot be resolved by military means”.

However, speaking at the Munich conference, NATO’s top commander General Philip Breedlove mooted the idea of sending weapons to Ukraine, reports Reuters.

“I don’t think we should preclude out of hand the possibility of the military option,” Breedlove told journalists on Saturday, adding that there was “no conversation about boots on the ground”.

According to latest figures from the UN, more than 5,300 people have been killed since the Ukraine conflict escalated in April last year. (jb)

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