Russian President Vladimir Putin met his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko, to try to ease tension between the two countries after five months of separatist unrest as violence flared on their border.
“Complicated” talks were held today, with the sides at times presenting “radically different” positions at a summit of the Russian-led Customs Union in Minsk, Belarus, according to that country’s president, Aleksandr Lukashenko. A bilateral meeting between Putin and Poroshenko ended this evening, the Kremlin said. Putin said earlier he’s ready for an exchange of opinions on Ukraine, while Poroshenko said he’s optimistic about the meeting, which includes European Union foreign-policy chief Catherine Ashton and Kazakhstan’s leader.
