Key talks begin amid hopes for Ukraine truce (NATO would not "collectively" supply arms to Ukraine)

A busy day in terms of diplomacy for the Ukraine crisis is under way as NATO leaders meet on the second day of a summit in Wales and ceasefire talks are scheduled to take place in the Belarusian capital.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the main pro-Russian rebel leader said they would both order ceasefires on Friday, provided that an agreement is reached on a new peace plan in Minsk to end the five-month war in Ukraine's east.
The annoucements came after a week in which the pro-Moscow separatists scored major victories with what NATO says is the open support of thousands of Russian troops and armour.


Speaking on the sidelines of the NATO summit near the Welsh city of Newport, Poroshenko said the ceasefire would be conditional on the planned meeting going ahead in Minsk of envoys from Ukraine, Russia and Europe's OSCE security and rights watchdog.
"At 14:00 local time [11:00 GMT on Friday], provided the meeting takes place, I will call on the general staff to set up a bilateral ceasefire and we hope that the implementation of the peace plan will begin tomorrow," he told reporters.

On Thursday, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO secretary general, told the Kremlin to pull back Russian troops from Ukraine and to stop supporting rebels in eastern Ukraine.
Rasmussen also said that NATO would not collectively supply arms to Ukraine, saying it was up to individual members to decide whether to supply arms to the conflict-wracked country.

• To aid Ukraine's military, NATO leaders instead agreed on a $20m package to help in the areas of cyberdefence, logistics, rehabilitating soldiers injured by the rebels, and command, communications and control capabilities, the AP news agency said.

Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from Newport, said that the North Atlantic Council, the decision-making body of the alliance, will decide what to do next on Ukraine.
"It is pretty much clear that they are going to sert up a joint fast response force which can be activated in 48 hours. Also there will most likely be military training programmes for eastern European countries," he said.

Increased sanctions
Earlier on Thursday, the White House said that key NATO leaders had agreed during the meeting that Russia should face increased sanctions for its actions in eastern Ukraine....................http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2014/09/key-talks-ahead-amid-hopes-ukraine-truce-20149563918412224.html
5/9/14
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Related:

• Kremlin plan fails to calm Ukraine as Nato backs Kiev. (Western states have backed Kiev with words and economic sanctions but...)

• Ukrainian govt forces trying to break through encirclement of Mariupol

• Kremlin warns Ukraine against joining NATO / Calls for Ukraine’s joining NATO aimed to derail peace process (Lavrov)

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