Strasbourg, 10/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - The leaders of the main political groups at the European Parliament are very much counting on the meeting between the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and his counterparts from Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, François Hollande, from France and the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 11 February in Minsk and will examine a peace plan for Ukraine.
On Tuesday 10 February, the political groups said a concerted diplomatic solution was a priority and the EP's plenary session was expected to debate the situation in Ukraine, later in the evening.
The president of the Christian Democrat group (EPP), Manfred Weber, from Germany, said that he wanted “Minsk II” to succeed and for the Russians to come back to the negotiating table. The president of the Social Democrats, Gianni Pittella, from Italy, said “no to weapons, yes to negotiations to the very end”. He stressed that “the first objective should be to unblock the armed conflict and not create conditions for a third world war on Europe's doorstep”. Similarly to the Liberals and Greens, the Social Democrats are also counting on economic sanctions. Rebecca Harms (Greens/ EFA, Germany) has travelled to Ukraine several times and called for “a common and united response based on the idea of economic rather than military sanctions”. Speaking on behalf of the ALDE group, Guy Verhofstadt, from Belgium, called for a tougher line from the Europeans and said that they should be prepared to step up sanctions and, above all, support the line advocated by the US. He said: “A common position with our US allies is a clear factor if we want our initiative to succeed”.
The US is currently looking at the possibility of sending weapons to Ukraine.
The former Belgian Prime Minister also raised the question of what role the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, should play in resolving the conflict, given that the centre of gravity in the negotiations appears to have moved to the respective nation states. MEPs had an opportunity to raise the question of Ukraine directly with Mogherini during a debate on Wednesday at the end of the day. (Marie-Pauline Desset and Camille Cerise Gessant)