Germany pushes for diplomatic solution to Ukraine crisis

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Germany on Tuesday launched a renewed diplomatic bid to defuse the Ukraine crisis with a bridge-building visit to Kiev by foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier aimed at closing the yawning gap between the interim government and the pro-Russia separatists.

Berlin is seeking to win support for planned round-table reconciliation talks backed by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe ahead of planned presidential elections on May 25, which are backed by Kiev but challenged by pro-Russia separatists in southern and eastern Ukraine.

Mr Steinmeier set out the purpose of his one-day trip, which is planned to take in the south and east as well as Kiev, as “building bridges between the different camps”.

Shortly after landing in Kiev, Mr Steinmeier emphasised “the decisive role” of the presidential elections, which are now less than two weeks away and called for “national dialogue” around the proposed round table.

He also called for groups with weapons to disarm and vacate occupied public buildings, a message directed not only at the pro-Russian protesters but at pro-Ukrainian groups too.

Standing alongside Mr Steinmeier, Ukraine’s interim prime minister Arseniy Yatseniuk urged Moscow to call upon pro-Russian separatists in eastern regions of his country to disarm and vacate seized government buildings.

“As soon as [Russia] stops backing separatists and terrorists, the situation will become much better than it is,” said Mr Yatseniuk.

Germany is putting huge efforts into seeking a diplomatic solution to the conflict. But Berlin has made clear that if the presidential elections are not successfully held, it will be prepared for further sanctions – which is widely assumed to mean broad-ranging economic sanctions.

Germany is setting great store by the OSCE as the Europe-wide security body includes not only Russia and Ukraine but also the US as members, and so provides a common forum for negotiation and potential action.

Mr Steinmeier has co-ordinated his latest diplomatic push carefully with Mr Didier Burkhalter, the Swiss president who is the OSCE’s current chairman. He twice held talks with Mr Burkhalter before the OSCE chairman’s trip to Moscow last week when he elicited from Russian president Vladimir Putin some conciliatory remarks including vague backing for the presidential elections.

However, Mr Putin has since then visited Crimea, in a trip widely seen in the west as provocative.