09/12/2015 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - "Ukrop", "Batkivschina", "Syla Liudey" parties go for the local elections

The UKROP party congress 

12.09.2015 Daily Highlights by the Digests & Analytics Ukraine News Agency

Topics from Media and Social Networks

• "Ukrop", "Batkivschina", "Syla Liudey" parties held congresses and go for the local elections.
• The “Normandy Four”  Foreign Ministers failed to reach an agreement on the Donbass.
• Russian soldier and his brother detained in the border town of Melove.
  

Key Events in Ukraine

• In Kiev, three parties held congresses, required by law to participate in the local elections. From the "Ukrop" party Korban was nominated as a candidate for the post of mayor of Kiev, former minister social and economic development Sheremeta became a candidate from "Syla Liudey" party.
  Leader of the "Batkivschina" party Tymoshenko said that the party stays in the ruling coalition and opposes any early parliamentary elections.

Ukraine at War

• In the Donbass the situation remains relatively quiet. In some areas, the militants are shooting at the Ukrainian positions using the small arms. According to the official reports of the Anti-Terrorist Operation Headquarters, one soldier was wounded in the area of the Donetsk airport . In Donetsk, there was a powerful explosion in the evening . Locals talk about the explosion of a truck transporting the MLRS ammunition.
  The OSCE claims that Russia continues to supply weapons, ammunition and ordnance to the Donbass.
• In the border town of Milove, Luhansk region, which is directly adjacent to the Russian city of Chertkovo, Ukrainian border guards detained two citizens of the Russian Federation, one of which is a soldier of the Russian army. Russian media reported that the detention is a provocation, but according to the State Border Service statement, Russian citizens simply lost their way.
• In Odessa, finished the joint with the US naval exercises Sea Breeze-2015.

Ukraine and the World

• Ukrainian Foreign Minister Klimkin said that the "Normandy Four" Foreign Minister did not overcome the differences in the process of difficult negotiations on the settlement in the Donbass. He said that before the meeting of Heads of the "Normandy Four" states, which is scheduled for October 2, one more meeting of the ministers is to be held . Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov says that the agreement on the withdrawal of the arms with the caliber of up to 100 mm and tanks is "90% ready". German Foreign Minister Steinmeier considers the truce reached in the Donbass  fragile and said that the situation does not give grounds to stop worrying.
• Russian President Putin insists on his own interpretation of the Minsk Agreements and direct talks of the leaders of the Ukrainian government with the militants of the Donbass "republics", as well as introducing the amendments to the Ukrainian Constitution, granting of special status to the occupied territories of the Donbass and amnesty to the combatants. If Ukraine is late to fulfill all the requirements, the "Minsk process" may be extended, as claimed one of the DPR militant leaders  Pushylin.
• According to the representative of Ukraine to the Minsk talks, former President Leonid Kuchma, Russia's goal is to freeze the conflict in the Donbass.