Ukraine crisis: Putin-EU talks 'positive but hard'.
The talks were an opportunity for the EU, Ukraine and Russia to build trust
Russia's
president and EU leaders have said their talks on the Ukraine crisis -
also including Ukraine's president - were positive but difficult.
The EU leaders pressed Vladimir Putin to do more to end fighting in the east.The West says Russia is arming separatist rebels and sending troops to eastern Ukraine. Moscow denies this.
After a second round of talks, Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko said outlines of a deal to resolve a gas dispute with Russia had been agreed.
"We have agreed on the main parameters of the contract," Mr Poroshenko said.
Most Russian gas supplies to Europe are delivered via Ukraine, and Mr Putin has warned Europe of "major transit risks" unless Ukraine settles the row.
Russia cut gas supplies to Ukraine in the summer, accusing Kiev of failing to pay its debts. Ukraine says the price set by Moscow is unfair.
The meeting is the first between Mr Putin and Mr Poroshenko since August
More than 3,600 people have been killed since the fighting erupted in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in April.
Ukraine and the rebels agreed a truce in September, but each side accuses the other of repeated shelling.
Among other points, the plan envisages the withdrawal of heavy weaponry by each side to a distance of 15km (10 miles) from the line of contact, and the withdrawal of all foreign "mercenaries" from the conflict zone.
'Full of misunderstandings' The talks took place on the sidelines of the two-day Asia-Europe (Asem) summit in Milan, Italy, which brings together more than 50 member states.
Other participants in the meeting included UK Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
Ukraine coastguards patrol the Azov Sea coast near Mariupol, near the frontline with rebel-held territory
Donetsk airport has been the scene of fierce clashes over the past weeks
The EU insists that sanctions it introduced against Russia over its involvement in the crisis will remain until Moscow takes action to defuse it.
Mr Putin told reporters as he left the meeting that the talks were "good" and "positive", but his spokesman described them as being "full of misunderstandings".
"Unfortunately, some participants of [the Milan] breakfast demonstrated complete unwillingness to understand the reality in south-eastern Ukraine," Dmitry Peskov said, quoted by Russian media.
In a brief news conference after the talks, Mr Renzi said they were constructive but big differences remained.
"I think we made a step ahead," he said.
- To pull heavy weaponry 15km (nine miles) by each side from the line of contact, creating a 30km security zone
- To ban offensive operations
- To ban flights by combat aircraft over the security zone
- To set up an OSCE monitoring mission
- To withdraw all foreign mercenaries from the conflict zone
Meanwhile the UK prime minister said Mr Putin had made it clear he did not want a frozen conflict or a divided Ukraine.
But David Cameron added that the sanctions would be kept in place until actions agreed as part of a peace plan last month in the Belarusian capital Minsk were taken.
Later Mr Putin met the Ukrainian, French and German leaders again.
The BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Milan says the talks were an unusual opportunity for the sides to get talking and build some sort of trust, which has so far been severely lacking.
Earlier this week, Mr Putin ordered the withdrawal of nearly 18,000 Russian troops stationed near the Ukrainian border.
However, Nato says it has seen no sign of any major Russian pullback.
bbc.
