Sept. 4, 2014: Unmarked Military vehicles burning in country roads in the village of Berezove, eastern Ukraine, after a clash between pro-government troops and Russian-backed separatist militia. Separatist rebels have made major strides in their offensive against Ukrainian government forces in recent days, drawing on what Ukraine and NATO says is ample support from the Russian military.AP
Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels appeared increasingly close to signing a deal to end four months of fighting, as NATO leaders expressed support for Ukraine at a NATO summit Thursday.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he's ready to order a cease-fire in the east Friday if a peace deal is signed that day at talks in Minsk, Belarus. The rebels also said they were ready to declare a truce Friday if an agreement with Ukraine is reached on a political settlement for the mostly Russian-speaking region.
Poroshenko discussed the outlines of a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, and they both voiced optimism about reaching an agreement in Minsk.
Facing major challenges with conflicts in Ukraine, Syria and Iraq and a winding down of operations in Afghanistan, NATO leaders gathered for a two-day summit at a golf resort in southern Wales. Before the official proceedings began, Poroshenko attended a meeting with Obama and the leaders of NATO's four major European powers: British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
A White House official said Obama and the other leaders expressed solidarity with Ukraine and agreed Russia should be punished for its conduct in Ukraine.
"The leaders reiterated their condemnation of Russia's continued flagrant violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and agreed on the need for Russia to face increased costs for its actions," U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said. "The leaders also expressed their strong support for President Poroshenko's efforts to achieve a peaceful resolution to the conflict."
Later in the day, Poroshenko was to meet with the heads of state and government from all 28 NATO member states, even though NATO officials have made clear that membership for Ukraine isn't in the cards anytime soon.
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned reports that Ukraine was seeking to join NATO were "a blatant attempt to derail all the efforts" to seek a peaceful solution to the fighting.
Russian-backed separatists have been fighting government troops in eastern Ukraine since mid-April in a conflict that the U.N. estimates has killed nearly 2,600 people.
View post:
Ukraine, rebels prepared to make cease-fire deal