The WSJ reports, "Ukraine's new president on Tuesday ordered the creation of a corridor to allow civilians to leave eastern regions where government forces are battling pro-Russia rebels. Moscow praised the move even as it brushed off renewed Western appeals to help stop the fighting.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned Ukraine against moving too fast to sign a sweeping trade deal with the European Union—one of the president's main campaign promises—saying such a deal would have consequences for economic ties with Moscow.
Russia is Ukraine's single-biggest trading partner and supplies much of its energy. Kiev has already been threatened with an imminent cutoff in natural-gas supplies because of a pricing dispute with Russia's energy giant OAO Gazprom".
"The Obama administration, meanwhile, said it had yet to see signs that Russia was following through on a weekend promise to block fighters and weapons from flowing across its border into Ukraine".
"There was no immediate word on when the corridor ordered by President Petro Poroshenko, who was inaugurated Saturday, would be set up or where it would lead. Scattered fighting was reported across eastern Ukraine on Tuesday; officials in the Donetsk region said two children were killed around the separatist stronghold of Slovyansk.
Mr. Poroshenko told top security officials to do everything necessary for civilians who want to leave the area. He also ordered them to take responsibility for transportation and health care for people caught up in the violence, and expand a network of mobile units to provide drinkingwater, food and medicine, his office said".
"Mr. Lavrov welcomed Kiev's proposed corridor after a meeting with European diplomats in St. Petersburg, but brushed off their calls for Moscow to appeal to the separatists to stop fighting. He demanded as before that Kiev stop its military operation first.
"You can't blame people for wanting to defend the cities and towns where their children live," Mr. Lavrov said when asked why the Kremlin wasn't publicly saying it didn't support the separatists. "The key for us is the end of military operations against the protesters.""
"Separatists who have declared independence in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, which border Russia, dismissed the corridor.
"We don't believe the words of the president of that country," the spokesman for the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
The Interfax news agency reported Saturday that Mr. Putin, who has pledged to work with Ukraine's new president, had ordered stepped up controls on the border with Ukraine to prevent weapons and reinforcements from crossing for the rebels.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski sparred with Mr. Lavrov over what Russia should do to stop that flow, according to people familiar with the meeting. The EU diplomats also questioned Kremlin claims that Ukraine would legally be forced to give up trade benefits with Russia if it signed a deal with the EU.
The meeting in St. Petersburg was the highest-level EU visit to Russia since the Ukraine crisis erupted early this year.
Mr. Poroshenko has vowed to press ahead with the military campaign but also presented what he called a peace plan, promising the regions more self-governance and vowing to respect the rights of Russian speakers.
Ukraine and Russia were due to meet Wednesday in Brussels in a fresh effort to resolve a standoff over Kiev's natural-gas bills. Gazprom has threatened to cut off supplies to Ukraine this week unless it gets what it says it is owed—a step that could have ripple effects around central and eastern Europe.
Also in Brussels, the European Commission said it would disburse €500 million ($677 million) in loans to Ukraine on June 17 to help the country pay its bills.The EU has pledged to make up to €1.6 billion available to Ukraine this year, and EU officials have acknowledged that some of the money may be used to help settle Kiev's gas bills".
Violence and fighting have continued in the eastern provinces of Ukraine,but the true casualties
have been disputed by both sides.
