Rebel Elections Snarl Ukraine Talks as Putin Resists EU

[Purveyor]

Source: Bloomberg

By Ian Wishart and Daryna Krasnolutska Oct 17, 2014 11:10 AM ET

Separatists’ plans to bring forward elections in rebel-held regions of Ukraine have become a sticking point in talks between the European Union and Russia aimed at resolving conflict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin refused to denounce votes planned for Nov. 2 in Luhansk and Donetsk in the east of the country despite pressure from European leaders including Germany’s Angela Merkel and the U.K.’s David Cameron at talks in Milan today, according to a Downing Street official.

“Russia now needs to take the actions to put in place all that’s been agreed,” Cameron told reporters after the meeting with Putin. This means “only recognizing one legitimate set of Ukrainian elections.”

After Russia agreed to a peace plan in September, the Ukrainian parliament in Kiev approved laws that give special status to the two rebel-held regions allowing them to hold elections to appoint self-ruling bodies. Ukraine scheduled the official poll for Dec. 7 while rebels loyal to Russia said they would stage their own vote in the contested regions a month earlier.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-17/rebel-elections-snarl-ukraine-talks-as-putin-resists-eu.html

[ballyhoo]

1. David Scameron knows the western fix is in for his preferred date.