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2nd LD: Hollande, Merkel to visit Kiev for peaceful settlement of Ukrainian crisis

Xinhua, February 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are due in Kiev in a new attempt to resolve peacefully the Ukrainian crisis amid rising tensions in the region, Hollande told reporters on Thursday.

"Ukraine is at war. Heavy weapons are being used, and civilians are killed every day. I decided, with Angela Merkel, to take a new initiative. We go to Kiev this afternoon," the French president said.

Hollande and Merkel, who brokered the first ice-breaking meeting with Ukrainian and Russian leaders in June 2014, planned to discuss their new proposal with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko later in the day and with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.

Warning that a war in doorstep could evolve into "a total war," Hollande expected "a text that can be acceptable to all" in coming talks, while reiterating Paris' refusal for a military option to end the crisis in Kiev.

However, the "negotiation can not be extended indefinitely," the French leader said.

"If we succeed, we will avoid escalation. If we fail, France and Germany would have done what they could," he noted, adding he would not support Ukraine's entry into NATO. Endi