Merkel asks Putin's help in freeing European hostages in Ukraine

[bemildred]

Source: LA Times

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday to urge him to use his influence with pro-Russia militants holding seven European military observers hostage in eastern Ukraine, official sources in Berlin and Moscow said.

But the Kremlin press service account of the phone call said Putin told Merkel that "the main thing" that needs to be done is for Ukraine's interim government to withdraw its forces from the southeast regions of the country.

Putin also said officials in Kiev needed to "stop the violence and immediately open a broad national dialogue" on constitutional changes that would transfer authority from the Ukrainian capital to the regions. The latter demand has been pressed repeatedly by the Kremlin in the month since its allied militants have occupied about a dozen towns and cities in eastern Ukraine, ostensibly to defend the interests of the region's Russian minority.

Masked and armed militants who seized the town of Slovyansk last month and declared the area part of the "People's Republic of Donetsk" detained a delegation of military observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Friday as the group attempted to enter the town on a mission on behalf of the 57-nation group, which includes Ukraine and Russia.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-wn-ukraine-russia-tensions-20140501,0,1819060.story

[jakeXT]

2. Only a handful of media outlets call them military inspectors

The observers -- who include four Germans and citizens of the Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland and Sweden -- were sent under the Vienna Document on military transparency and included no OSCE monitors, according to the Vienna-based organization. They were accompanied by Ukrainian military officers.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-25/g-7-may-act-quickly-against-russia-as-accord-falters.html

What is the German army doing in Slavyansk?

Eight military inspectors have been detained by pro-Russian activists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk since April 25. The group of inspectors consists of three German army (Bundeswehr) officers, a German interpreter, plus one Czech, one Polish, one Danish and one Swedish military inspector. The Swede has since been released for health reasons.

The German media has consistently described the detainees as OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) observers. This is incorrect. The only connection between the OSCE and the detainees is that the presence of the latter in Ukraine is justified by the so-called Vienna Document agreed on by the 57 member states of the OSCE in 1992, and which has since been renewed on a number of occasions.

But the activities of the group in Ukraine have not been approved by the OSCE, nor are they under OSCE control. Instead, the military inspectors were instructed to intervene in Ukraine by the regime in Kiev and are under the direct control of their respective national defence ministries.

This has been confirmed by the deputy director of the OSCE crisis prevention centre, Claus Neukirch. He has stated that the group is involved in a bilateral mission, headed by the army and at the invitation of the Ukrainian government. Such inspections can be agreed on between individual OSCE member states.

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/05/01/slav-m01.html

[ballyhoo]

3. This surprises me a little. That

Merkel would okay this while she's demanding her NSA file be released to her... She should have kept above the fray. Still, if Putin could help her it might get a tit for a tat down the road.

[bemildred]

5. Doesn't surprise me at all. He's the only guy she can talk to that will have any influence.

And they had cordial relations until recently. I don't see her opening a line to that guy there holding them for trade, that would piss off a lot of people, and it would be taken as recognition.

[ballyhoo]

6. Sounds reasonable. I didn't know they had been

cordial. Putin has his charm, I suppose.

[bemildred]

7. I don't know how cordial, I'm not expert on either one, but

there were stories back in an earlier phase of this crisis about how well they get along etc. the cultural ties between them, etc, like they could see eye-to-eye about things. Not saying I believe that either, but it would seem safe to think they were comfortable with each other, they do a lot of business.

[ballyhoo]

8. Okay. Thanks.

[bemildred]

4. I don't think military observers are necessarily a bad thing.

But it wouid probably be politic next time to make sure the locals are aware of your mission, etc.