BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- A round of talks, aimed at reaching a stable cease-fire in Ukraine, between its government forces and armed rebels, has been held in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. However, the talks have produced no indication of progress.
Officials from Russia, Ukrain, the Organization for Security and Cooperation and the rebel leaders reportedly discussed withdrawal of heavy weapons from the frontline, establishment of a seperation line, exchange of war prisoners, as well as ways to end Ukraine's economic locate of rebel-held areas.
Humanitarian aid by one of the rebel leaders. Ukraine's parliament lifeted the non-aligned status, therefore, allowing Ukraine to join NATO at some point in the future. Moscow described this move as counterproductive.
"It created an illusion, a move toward NATO," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. "Instead it is essentail to finally stop escalation and confrontation, and start to open all inclusive over-all dialogue, including with their own people. They refuse to accept a dictate from here."
Meanwhile, Russia's currency the Rouble rebounded after hitting the lowest level since the 1998 financial crisis last week. Russia's budget significantly more than 0.8 percent, a decision to hike Russia's Central Bank last week to below 400 billion dollars, down from 510 billion dollars at the start of this year supporting its currency.
(Source: CNTV.com)
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