MOSCOW, September 4 (RIA Novosti) - Any peaceful initiative concerning the crisis in Ukraine could be undermined by radical forces, Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland said Thursday.
“The problem with a conflict like this – and we have seen this again and again – is that there are always forces on both sides, radical forces, that don’t want to go in a positive direction,” Jagland said.
He added it was important to keep a positive momentum going, when one positive step could lead to another. An exchange of prisoners could become one of these positive steps.
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin presented a plan to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, urging Kiev to withdraw its troops from the country’s southeast and calling on the militia to cease its military advance.
The plan presupposes the participation of an international monitoring force, the establishment of a humanitarian corridor, a ban on the use of combat aircraft over urban areas, the exchange of prisoners and direct access to destroyed infrastructure for repair crews.
Speaking about Putin’s plan, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that NATO welcomed all efforts to find a peaceful settlement to the Ukrainian crisis.
