An exerpt from "Merkel Hits Diplomatic Dead-End With Putin" by Noah Barkin and Andreas Rinke of Reuters:
After nine months of non-stop German diplomacy to defuse the crisis in Ukraine, Chancellor Angela Merkel decided in mid-November that a change of tack was needed.
Ahead of a summit of G20 leaders in Australia, Merkel resolved to confront Vladimir Putin alone, without the usual pack of interpreters and aides.
Instead of challenging him on what she saw as a string of broken promises, she would ask the Russian president to spell out exactly what he wanted in Ukraine and other former Soviet satellites the Kremlin had started bombarding with propaganda.
On Nov. 15 at 10 p.m., a world away from the escalating violence in eastern Ukraine, the two met on the eighth floor of the Brisbane Hilton. The meeting did not go as hoped.
For nearly four hours, Merkel -- joined around midnight by new European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker -- tried to get the former KGB agent, a fluent German speaker, to let down his guard and clearly state his intentions.
But all the chancellor got from Putin, officials briefed on the conversation told Reuters, were the same denials and dodges she had been hearing for months.
"He radiated coldness," one official said of the encounter. "Putin has dug himself in and he can't get out."
Read the entire story here.
More from RFE/RL's News Desk on France's warship sale to Russia:
France has announced it is suspending delivery of a warship to Russia, saying Moscow had not fulfilled the necessary conditions to receive the vessel.
President Francois Hollande's office said on November 25 that the suspension of the delivery of the first of two Mistral helicopter-carriers Russia has purchased from France was in effect "until further notice."
The handover of the warship was delayed after Russia illegally annexed Crimea last March and lent support to pro-Russian separatists fighting government troops in eastern Ukraine.
In September, Hollande set two conditions for release of the Mistral to Russia: full implementation of a September 5 cease-fire agreement and a political settlement of the conflict.
Some 1,000 people have been killed in fighting in eastern Ukraine since the cease-fire.
In Moscow, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov said his country does not currently plan to file a legal claim against France.
RFE/RL Video: The Village On The Ukrainian Front Line
The Ukrainian village of Krymske lies on the front line. Government forces are dug in around the village, but civilians face frequent artillery fire from Russian-backed separatists. Many feel they have no choice but to stay -- and take their chances with the shells falling around them.
Just in from dpa:
France on Tuesday said it had suspended "until further
notice" the delivery of a warship to Russia, citing the conflict in
Ukraine.
The presidency said in a statement that the conflict on Europe's border "does not allow" the delivery of the Vladivostok.
From AFP:
Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine called Tuesday on the United Nations to convene an emergency Security Council session that could authorise sending international peacekeepers into the war zone.
The leadership of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic said in a statement it was seeking "the intervention of a peacekeeping force that includes Russian representatives to control the implementation of existing agreements and help resolve the humanitarian and social situation."
RFE/RL Video: Displaced Ukrainians Seek Safety On Both Sides Of Russian Border
Some have traveled by train to southern Russia; others have found refuge in quieter parts of Ukraine. Some families have fled together, while others have been separated from their loved ones. But all those displaced by the conflict in eastern Ukraine have one thing in common: They are seeking security and a chance to return to an ordinary life. (Produced by Mumin Shakirov of RFE/RL's Russian Service)
Here is today's situation map of eastern Ukraine by the National Security and Defense Council (click map to enlarge):
From AFP:
Three civilians were killed by shelling in the rebel-held city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine over the past 24 hours, separatist officials said on Tuesday.
One shell hit a minibus early on Tuesday, killing two passengers including a man of around 25 and a woman in her forties, and injuring eight others, a hospital source told AFP.
The incident happened close to Donetsk airport, the scene of heavy fighting between Ukrainian and rebel forces for several months.
Four areas of the city were hit by shells overnight, the Donetsk town hall said, without giving details of the third death.
More than 4,300 people have been killed since fighting broke out in eastern Ukraine in April.