“The fate of Ukraine and the fate of Europe are being decided in Minsk today.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko met face-to-face in Minsk, Belarus, on Tuesday, the pair's first bi-lateral meeting to discuss the bloody fighting in eastern Ukraine that has gripped the region since June.
Putin is on the left, Poroshenko on the right, and Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko in the middle.
AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko
In opening remarks, Poroshenko cast the the talks as an important step towards reaching a political compromise between the two warring countries. "The fate of peace and the fate of Europe are being decided in Minsk today," Poroshenko said, NBC reported.
AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko
Putin, on the other hand, spent his opening remarks largely focusing on trade, according to NBC.
Putin also told his counterpart that the current standoff in east Ukraine could not be solved without including representatives of Ukraine's Russian-speaking east. Ukraine has accused Russia of supporting pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine in part to destabilize Poroshenko's recently elected government.
Grigory Dukor / Reuters
Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev and European Union Vice-President Catherine Ashton also attended the much-hyped meeting.
Sasha Mordovets / Getty Images
