Obama and Poroshenkпo continue war plans

Ukraine, US Agree on Further Coordination if Donbas Conflict Escalates
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and US President Barack Obama agree to further cooperation in case the Ukrainian conflict escalates.

Sputnik News,

14 February, 2015

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and US President Barack Obama during a phone talk on Saturday agreed on further coordination of efforts in case of Ukrainian conflict escalation.

“Interlocutors discussed situation in Donbas and expressed concern about the events unfolding around Debaltsevo,” the statement published on Poroshenko’s official website read.

“The President of Ukraine stressed the necessity of OSCE monitoring to confirm the ceasefire. Petro Poroshenko and Barack Obama also agreed on further coordination of efforts in case of escalation,” the statement concluded.

Poroshenko, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande also held phone talks earlier on Saturday.

Petro Poroshenko, Francois Hollande and Angela Merkel held a phone conversation ahead of a ceasefire in southeastern Ukraine and stressed that all parties involved in the Ukrainian conflict should observe the obligations they accepted during peace talks in Minsk earlier this week.

The ceasefire was one out of the measures agreed on during the last reconciliation talks on Ukraine in the Belarus capital of Minsk.

The leaders of Ukraine, France, Germany, and Russia held a 16-hour summit in Minsk on Wednesday and early Thursday. The talks resulted in a new political deal, aimed at stopping the deadly conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The deal was signed by the Contact Group on Ukraine, including envoys from Moscow, Kiev, the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Despite a similar ceasefire agreement signed by the parties in last September, clashes in eastern Ukraine intensified in the first weeks of 2015.

Georgian Ex-Leader Saakashvili Calls for Arms Supplies to Ukraine – Media

In his capacity as a non-staff advisor to Ukraine’s president, former Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili will reportedly coordinate the delivery of weapons from the Western countries to Ukraine.

Sputnik News,

14 February, 2015

"Helping Ukraine with weapons is the top priority right now," he said, as quoted by independent Kiev-based TV channel, Espreso TV. "I will coordinate the issue in the coming days."

On Friday, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko announced that Saakashvili, known for his strong anti-Russian stance, would head the Advisory International Council of Reforms. The newly-created body is supposed to "increase the level of international support to Ukraine," Poroshenko’s office said in a news release.

"Mikheil will become a representative of Ukraine abroad and, simultaneously, a representative of the international community in Ukraine," Poroshenko explained, adding that Saakashvili is supposed to "decently represent us abroad."

Poroshenko praised Saakashvili for his "knowledge, experience and unique know-how," as well as achievements in carrying out reforms in Georgia during his presidency.

Saakashvili, who resides in the US, served as Georgian president from 2004 until 2013, when he was barred from seeking another presidential term. His rule was largely criticized at home for authoritarianism, and a 2012 prison torture scandal dealt a heavy blow to his approval ratings. In summer 2014, a Georgian court charged him with abuse of power and misappropriation of public funds.