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                    Ukraine, Kazakh Presidents Meet in Kyiv

   by VOA News

   The presidents of Ukraine and Kazakhstan have discussed military
   cooperation and the situation in eastern Ukraine during a meeting in
   Kyiv.

   Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the countries renewed their
   military and technical cooperation.

   He also said Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev agreed the
   principals outlined in the Minsk agreement should be the basis for
   settling the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

   Nazarbayev said there is an opportunity to resolve the situation and
   restore relations in the region.

   On Sunday, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko met in Kyiv with
   Poroshenko to offer his support.  Poroshenko thanked the Belarus leader
   for taking a clear position on the sovereignty, territorial integrity
   and independence of Ukraine.

   Belarus, a close ally of Russia, also maintains a solid relationship
   with Ukraine.  Belarus hosted major negotiations between an
   international contact group in its capital, Minsk, in September that
   produced deals on a cease-fire and partial self-rule for the two mostly
   Russian-speaking regions of eastern Ukraine that rebelled against Kyiv
   in April.

   The cease-fire agreed to September 5 succeeded in stemming the worst
   fighting, but it has been repeatedly broken by both sides, resulting in
   at least 1,300 more deaths.

   Also Sunday, in an interview broadcast by CNN, U.S. President Barack
   Obama rejected the notion that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a
   "chess master" who has outmaneuvered the United States and the West in
   their stand-off over Ukraine.

   Obama said Putin is facing "the collapse of his currency, a major
   financial crisis, and a huge economic contraction."  Russia's money
   woes follow U.S. and EU sanctions imposed after Moscow annexed
   Ukraine's Crimean peninsula earlier this year.

   The Kyiv government, the European Union and the United States accuse
   Moscow of stoking the violence in Ukraine and arming pro-Russian
   separatists after Ukrainians ousted their Moscow-backed president in
   February and embarked on a pro-Western course. Moscow denies
   involvement.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/ukraine-and-kazakh-presidents-meet-in
   -kyiv/2569489.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/ukraine-and-kazakh-presidents-meet-in-kyiv/2569489.html