KIEV, Ukraine — An insurgent ambush killed six soldiers Tuesday in eastern Ukraine as Germany moved to jump-start a possible plan toward peace that includes launching a dialogue on decentralizing the government in Kiev.
Ukraine’s leadership appeared cool to the plan and U.S. officials view its prospects for success skeptically. But some analysts say Russian President Vladimir Putin is more likely to accept a deal that doesn’t come from Washington
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is in Ukraine to try to broker a quick launch of talks between the central government and pro-Russia separatists. That would be a first step in implementing a “road map” drawn up by the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe aimed at settling the crisis.
OSCE is a trans-Atlantic security and rights group that includes Russia and the United States.
Speaking in Brussels, acting Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk thanked the OSCE for its plan but said Ukraine has drawn up its own “road map” for ending the crisis and noted the people of his country should settle the issue themselves.
A settlement has been elusive, as insurgents in eastern Ukraine seize police stations and government buildings. Two regions in the east have declared themselves independent after a weekend referendum, and one of them, Donetsk, has appealed for annexation by Russia.
Ukrainian forces have mounted an offensive to try to put down the armed insurgents. On Tuesday, the Defense Ministry said six soldiers were killed by insurgents who ambushed a convoy. The separatist leader in Luhansk, one of the regions that declared independence, was shot and wounded, insurgents said.
With the tensions high between Washington and Moscow, Steinmeier may be a more effective interlocutor. A senior official in the U.S. administration said that the U.S. had been coordinating with Germany.
Putin “is far more likely to bow to pressure if it’s going to come from (German Chancellor) Angela Merkel than Barack Obama,” said Michael Geary of the Institute for European Global Studies at Switzerland’s University of Basel.
