Bid to save Ukraine in Berlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin was headed to Berlin on Wednesday for a summit on Ukraine amid escalating tensions between Moscow and the West over Russia’s role in Ukraine as well as Syria.

The meeting between the Russian, German, French and Ukrainian leaders will “evaluate the implementation” of the Minsk peace accords for Ukraine, Berlin and Paris said on Tuesday.

Putin’s first visit to the German capital since the Ukraine conflict broke out in 2014 will come the day before the 28 leaders of the European Union are due to discuss relations with Russia including sanctions over Ukraine, which come up for renewal at the end of the year.

The EU summit in Brussels is also expected to discuss Russia’s role in Syria, which sparked a furious row between Russia and France last week that prompted Putin to cancel a visit to Paris.

Wednesday’s Ukraine summit will also “discuss the next steps in the process towards ending the crisis in eastern Ukraine,” the French president’s office said Tuesday.

All sides agreed to a peace deal brokered by Germany and France in February 2015, but while the so-called Minsk accords reduced the intensity of fighting, they failed to stop it.

Even before the meeting convened, Kiev and Moscow tamped down hopes for a breakthrough.

“Let’s not have very high expectations on this meeting,” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on a visit to Oslo. “Am I optimistic enough Yes I'm very optimistic about the future of Ukraine but unfortunately not so optimistic about tomorrow’s meeting.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin believed there was “no alternative” to implementing the Ukraine accords.

“We know that on this point, the situation leaves much to be desired,” he said. “For the moment, Kiev is doing nothing.”