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UN, EU condemn rebel vote in Ukraine amid NATO-Russia tensions

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The international community on Wednesday condemned Moscow over its plans to recognise separatist polls in Ukraine as NATO warned of "unusual" Russian military manoeuvres in European airspace.

Ukrainian and Russian ministers meanwhile held another round of EU-brokered gas talks in Brussels to end a months-long supply cut that threatens to hit parts of Europe this winter.

Overshadowing the talks, both UN chief Ban Ki-moon and the European Union condemned the plans by the rebels to stage elections Sunday in areas of eastern Ukraine under their control.

The vote "will seriously undermine" peace agreements reached in the Belarus capital of Minsk in September, Ban said, adding that the agreements "need to be urgently implemented in full."

The EU echoed his concerns that the polls threatened the fragile peace process.

The pro-Russian separatists of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic launched early internet polling Wednesday for absentee voters.

Europe's dependency on Russian gas
Europe's dependency on Russian gas
, AFP

Russia has said it would recognise the results of the elections, stirring further tension with Ukraine and its allies the United States and the European Union.

Moscow has also rejected Western accusations that it has sent troops and weapons to support the armed uprising in Ukraine's east, in which around 3,700 people have been killed since April.

The EU and US have imposed the harshest sanctions on Moscow since the end of the Cold War over its backing for separatist rebels. The EU kept the sanctions in place following a review earlier this week.

- Russian air manoeuvres -

Against a backdrop of heightened tensions with Moscow, NATO on Wednesday said it had tracked and intercepted four groups of Russian warplanes "conducting significant military manoeuvres" in European airspace over the past two days.

"These sizeable Russian flights represent an unusual level of air activity over European airspace," NATO said.

The planes, which included strategic bombers, fighters and tanker aircraft, were detected over the Baltic Sea, North Sea/Atlantic Ocean and the Black Sea on Tuesday and Wednesday, it said.

NATO allies sent up aircraft to intercept and identify the Russian planes which were continually tracked on the ground as well, it said in a report from its SHAPE military headquarters in Mons, western Belgium.

NATO said there had been more than 100 intercepts of Russian aircraft so far this year, about three times more than in 2013.

- War looms over East -

In eastern Ukraine, rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko said he was making battle preparations as well as campaigning ahead of the separatist vote.

The prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic  Alexander Zakharchenko  ho...
The prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, holds on October 19, 2014 the Donetsk People's Republic's flag during its presentation on Lenin square in the eastern city of Donetsk
Dominique Faget, AFP/File

"We are preparing for war," he was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying. "De facto there was no truce. Attacks on our cities continued."

Ukraine staged its own elections on Sunday in which pro-European forces scored a decisive victory at the expense of parties that once backed closer ties with Russia but now tread a more centrist course.

The poll saw Western-backed President Petro Poroshenko's political bloc and a party led by Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk come close to the 50 percent of the votes needed to form their own government.

Poroshenko is busy negotiating the makeup of a new coalition that is all but certain to keep Yatsenyuk as premier -- an outcome cheered by Western lenders who view him as a market-friendly proponent of economic change.

- Gas talks -

The gas standoff between Ukraine and Russia was also in focus as the EU tried to broker a deal amid fears that the supply cut could spell problems for large parts of Europe in winter.

EU officials said talks involving Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan, EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger and their Russian counterpart Alexander Novak were going late into the evening.

They said a press conference could be held early Thursday if there was an agreement overnight.

European Union Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger talks to media on October 29  2014 before a tri...
European Union Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger talks to media on October 29, 2014 before a trilateral gas meeting with Russia and Ukraine at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels
Thierry Charlier, AFP

"Our common ambition is to come to an interim solution, to come to a winter package... to solve our security of supply," Oettinger said.

In an interview with German television ZDF earlier, Oettinger put the talks' chances of success at no more than 50 percent.

Several acrimonious rounds have failed to resolve a dispute stemming from Kiev's refusal to pay a higher rate imposed by Moscow after the February ouster of Ukraine's Kremlin-backed president.

Russia's state energy holding company Gazprom cut Ukraine's gas deliveries in June -- the third such interruption in less than 10 years.

The cut did not immediately impact European clients which receive about half their Russian shipments via Ukraine, but EU nations fear that Ukraine may tap into gas deliveries out of desperation during the winter.

The two sides have reached a tentative price deal that would see Russia charge about 20 percent less at $385 (302 euros) per 1,000 cubic metres for the coming six months.

But there is still no agreement over Ukraine's unpaid bills or how it will pay for the new deliveries.

The international community on Wednesday condemned Moscow over its plans to recognise separatist polls in Ukraine as NATO warned of “unusual” Russian military manoeuvres in European airspace.

Ukrainian and Russian ministers meanwhile held another round of EU-brokered gas talks in Brussels to end a months-long supply cut that threatens to hit parts of Europe this winter.

Overshadowing the talks, both UN chief Ban Ki-moon and the European Union condemned the plans by the rebels to stage elections Sunday in areas of eastern Ukraine under their control.

The vote “will seriously undermine” peace agreements reached in the Belarus capital of Minsk in September, Ban said, adding that the agreements “need to be urgently implemented in full.”

The EU echoed his concerns that the polls threatened the fragile peace process.

The pro-Russian separatists of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic launched early internet polling Wednesday for absentee voters.

Europe's dependency on Russian gas

Europe's dependency on Russian gas
, AFP

Russia has said it would recognise the results of the elections, stirring further tension with Ukraine and its allies the United States and the European Union.

Moscow has also rejected Western accusations that it has sent troops and weapons to support the armed uprising in Ukraine’s east, in which around 3,700 people have been killed since April.

The EU and US have imposed the harshest sanctions on Moscow since the end of the Cold War over its backing for separatist rebels. The EU kept the sanctions in place following a review earlier this week.

– Russian air manoeuvres –

Against a backdrop of heightened tensions with Moscow, NATO on Wednesday said it had tracked and intercepted four groups of Russian warplanes “conducting significant military manoeuvres” in European airspace over the past two days.

“These sizeable Russian flights represent an unusual level of air activity over European airspace,” NATO said.

The planes, which included strategic bombers, fighters and tanker aircraft, were detected over the Baltic Sea, North Sea/Atlantic Ocean and the Black Sea on Tuesday and Wednesday, it said.

NATO allies sent up aircraft to intercept and identify the Russian planes which were continually tracked on the ground as well, it said in a report from its SHAPE military headquarters in Mons, western Belgium.

NATO said there had been more than 100 intercepts of Russian aircraft so far this year, about three times more than in 2013.

– War looms over East –

In eastern Ukraine, rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko said he was making battle preparations as well as campaigning ahead of the separatist vote.

The prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic  Alexander Zakharchenko  ho...

The prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, holds on October 19, 2014 the Donetsk People's Republic's flag during its presentation on Lenin square in the eastern city of Donetsk
Dominique Faget, AFP/File

“We are preparing for war,” he was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying. “De facto there was no truce. Attacks on our cities continued.”

Ukraine staged its own elections on Sunday in which pro-European forces scored a decisive victory at the expense of parties that once backed closer ties with Russia but now tread a more centrist course.

The poll saw Western-backed President Petro Poroshenko’s political bloc and a party led by Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk come close to the 50 percent of the votes needed to form their own government.

Poroshenko is busy negotiating the makeup of a new coalition that is all but certain to keep Yatsenyuk as premier — an outcome cheered by Western lenders who view him as a market-friendly proponent of economic change.

– Gas talks –

The gas standoff between Ukraine and Russia was also in focus as the EU tried to broker a deal amid fears that the supply cut could spell problems for large parts of Europe in winter.

EU officials said talks involving Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan, EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger and their Russian counterpart Alexander Novak were going late into the evening.

They said a press conference could be held early Thursday if there was an agreement overnight.

European Union Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger talks to media on October 29  2014 before a tri...

European Union Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger talks to media on October 29, 2014 before a trilateral gas meeting with Russia and Ukraine at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels
Thierry Charlier, AFP

“Our common ambition is to come to an interim solution, to come to a winter package… to solve our security of supply,” Oettinger said.

In an interview with German television ZDF earlier, Oettinger put the talks’ chances of success at no more than 50 percent.

Several acrimonious rounds have failed to resolve a dispute stemming from Kiev’s refusal to pay a higher rate imposed by Moscow after the February ouster of Ukraine’s Kremlin-backed president.

Russia’s state energy holding company Gazprom cut Ukraine’s gas deliveries in June — the third such interruption in less than 10 years.

The cut did not immediately impact European clients which receive about half their Russian shipments via Ukraine, but EU nations fear that Ukraine may tap into gas deliveries out of desperation during the winter.

The two sides have reached a tentative price deal that would see Russia charge about 20 percent less at $385 (302 euros) per 1,000 cubic metres for the coming six months.

But there is still no agreement over Ukraine’s unpaid bills or how it will pay for the new deliveries.

AFP
Written By

With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

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