The presidents of the European Commission and Ukraine cautioned Russia against escalating the conflict in eastern Ukraine Saturday. (Reuters)
By Karoun Demirjian August 31 at 9:32 AM
MOSCOW — As European leaders draft new sanctions to warn Russia over its role in the Ukraine conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for talks about political society and “statehood” in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists are trying to throw off the government in Kiev.
Putin urged such discussions during a television interview that aired Sunday on Russia’s state-owned Channel 1 in some regions, in which he also spoke of the need to end hostilities before winter and criticized European leaders for supporting Ukraine, according to Russian media. The interview, recorded for a program broadcast in the evening, has not yet aired in Moscow.
Late Saturday, José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, had warned that the crisis in Ukraine might soon “reach the point of no return” but stressed that it was “not yet too late to find a political solution” to the fighting between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatists, even as new evidence emerges of Russian support for the rebels.
In the early hours of Sunday, European leaders meeting in Brussels decided to give Russia a week to change course before finalizing sanctions. Barroso warned Russia against trying Europe’s patience further, saying Europe was “ready for a new round of sanctions following the recent escalation” of hostilities in the east.
“The opening of new fronts and the use of Russian regular forces is not acceptable and represents a grave transgression,” Barroso said Saturday. “Russia should not underestimate the European Union’s will and resolve to stand by its principles and values.”
Barroso’s comments marked some of the strongest diplomatic condemnation of Russia from the European Union since member nations imposed economic sanctions against Russia in July, targeting the country’s defense, energy and financial services industries. The new sanctions, should they be imposed, would probably affect broad sectors of the economy as well, though European leaders did not detail what steps were considered Saturday. The European Commission is the executive arm of the E.U.
But Putin appeared to scoff at Europe’s “principles and values” during the Sunday interview, arguing that Europe’s support for Ukraine ran exactly counter to them.
“What are the so-called European values?” Putin asked, according to Russian media reports of the interview. “Maintaining the coup, the armed seizure of power and the suppression of dissent with the help of the armed forces? Are those modern European values?”
“Our colleagues need to remember their own ideals,” he added, dismissing the idea that the rebels, under fire from the Ukrainian army, could sit still and not defend themselves. Russians, too, “cannot remain indifferent to the fact that people are shot at almost point-blank range,” he said.
While Kiev and its allies view the crisis in eastern Ukraine as one of armed rebellion fomented and aided by Russia, Russians have argued that the hostilities are a fight for self-determination — the same argument that was made about Crimea before Russia annexed the Ukrainian territory in March, after a local referendum. Ukraine and its allies still do not recognize Crimea as Russian territory.
In recent days, Putin’s rhetoric about eastern Ukraine has been reminiscent of the language used to describe Crimea several months ago, as he employs terms from historical Russia to describe areas of Ukraine.
On Friday, Putin praised the militias of “Novorossiya” — or “new Russia” — hailing them as “insurgents” battling an army that he likened later that day to invaders during World War II and lauding them for “suppressing the power operation of Kiev, a deadly threat to the population of Donbas.”
“Donbas” is a historical reference to the Donets basin of eastern Ukraine that separatists are trying to claim as their territory, while Novorossiya describes an area north of the Black Sea that was once part of the Russian empire and where the government in Kiev says Russian soldiers, tanks and heavy artillery have been rolling in to help the separatists reverse recent Ukrainian military gains.
Putin’s calls for a discussion on statehood in the same general region of Ukraine could be seen as an escalation of that recent rhetoric.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin was only calling for dialogue, not giving an opinion as to ultimate status of the region, when he urged “substantive, meaningful negotiations” on the “political organization of society and statehood” in southeast Ukraine.
“These are the inclusive talks that should determine the relationship with the eastern regions, that is, negotiations inside Ukraine on the internal Ukrainian order with respect for the interests of the country’s eastern regions, the interests of Novorossiya,” Peskov told reporters, according to Russian state-owned news agency Itar-Tass. “The way, extent and mechanisms of this process — that’s what the president meant.”
On Friday, Putin suggested that Ukraine should be more open to federalization, commenting to a youth forum that he was surprised that Ukrainian leaders were “so afraid” of the topic.
He said during Sunday’s interview that resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine “largely depends on the political will of today’s Ukrainian leadership.” While calling for a swift end to hostilities, Putin said he did not expect the fighting to end as Ukraine heads into a parliamentary election season.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko recently called for the dissolution of parliament and new elections, which are scheduled for Oct. 26.
Poroshenko went to Brussels on Saturday to urge a meeting of European heads of state and government to stiffen sanctions against Russia and help Ukrainian forces with military assistance, in light of what Ukrainian officials call Russia’s recent incursions into their country. The pro-Russian rebels have regained some territory in the past few days, after weeks of losing ground to Ukrainian troops.
Putin spoke fairly positively of Poroshenko during Sunday’s television interview, according to Russian media, calling him “a partner with whom you can engage in dialogue” and saying their first one-on-one discussion, on the sidelines of a summit in the Belarusan capital last Tuesday, was “very good” and “quite frank.”
“Ukraine is now an object of foreign military aggression,” Poroshenko said in Brussels, arguing that the situation in his nation was considerably worse than just a few days ago. “It is a very high risk not only for peace and stability in Ukraine, but also for the entire Europe.”
Russian officials have repeatedly rejected accusations that their government is sending weapons, military vehicles and troops over the border to assist separatists in Ukraine. They have said some Russians who support the separatists’ cause have crossed the border as volunteers.
NATO has cited evidence presented by Ukrainian authorities as well as its own satellite imagery to determine that Russia has been supplying separatists with military material and firing on Ukrainian forces — including from within Ukraine itself.
Meanwhile, Poroshenko confirmed to European leaders Saturday that Ukraine intends to ratify its association agreement with the E.U. in September. Ukraine’s parliament will also probably consider a draft bill to repeal the country’s “non-bloc status,” which prevents it from aligning with a military alliance such as NATO. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said that could pave the way for Ukraine seeking NATO membership.
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