Ukraine's new Western-backed president has ordered the creation of humanitarian corridors in the separatist east that could save civilians and advance his plan to end nearly two months of fighting by the end of the week.
Tycoon Petro Poroshenko's initiative on Tuesday meets a major demand put forward by Moscow and helps address growing concern among rights groups about Kiev's use of tanks and air power in heavily populated areas to suppress the pro-Russian insurgency.
But the 48-year-old chocolatier and political veteran stopped well short of accepting the Kremlin's request to allow Russian aid into the eastern rustbelt - a move Kiev fears could be used to help arm the rebels.
"In order to avoid new victims in the zone of the anti-terrorist operation, the president has ordered the responsible ministers to bring about all necessary conditions for civilians who want to leave," Poroshenko's office said in a statement.
The new leader also told his government to provide transportation as well as food and medical supplies for local officials to be able to handle the expected inflow of displaced persons into other parts of Ukraine.
On Sunday Poroshenko unveiled plans to end by the close of his first week in office a rebellion that has killed more than 200 people and shaken the very foundation of the splintered ex-Soviet state.
The peace push came after the first of what are expected to be almost daily meetings with Moscow's ambassador to Kiev and a representative from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe - a Vienna-based body that was first tasked with securing peace during the Cold War.
Poroshenko's high-stakes negotiations with the Kremlin include efforts to avert a Russian gas cut that would also impact Europe and plunge his economically-devastated country into even deeper recession.
A crunch round of EU-mediated gas talks concluded in Brussels on Monday without an agreement but a decision for the sides to meet again by Wednesday after further consultations back home.
"All points of the deal were negotiated, and discussions will resume," EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said.
But Ukraine's Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan conceded that little progress was made on a dispute over prices and billions of dollars in contested debts sought by Moscow.
"We remained at the level of the (last round) of negotiations," Prodan said after the talks.
Share
