World

KIEV/DONETSK, Ukraine — Church bells rang out over Kiev’s Maidan square and hundreds of mourners bowed their heads in silence on Sunday, a national day of mourning, to honour 49 Ukrainian servicemen killed by pro-Russian separatists.

But some 600km away to the east in the city of Donetsk, heart of an armed insurgency against central rule by Kiev, there were few signs of mourning as people enjoyed a lazy stroll, sipped coffee in cafes and watched their children play.

Few events illustrate more clearly the bitter chasm that has opened up between east Ukraine and the rest of the country of 45 million. Heroes to some, the 49 killed when a missile hit their plane on Saturday were enemies to others.

“I feel desperate, like it’s a betrayal. I don’t know what I can do to help,” Volodymyr Radchenko, an engineer in his fifties, said on the Maidan, cradle of an uprising which ousted Ukraine’s Moscow-backed president in February.

Nearby, an Orthodox priest led prayers on a stage, flanked by men in black masks and camouflage fatigues.

Radchenko’s depressed mood and sense of helplessness are shared by many in Kiev, whose euphoria over Viktor Yanukovich’s overthrow as president has given way to dismay as Russia annexed Crimea in March and separatists rose up in the east in April.

“I’m very worried,” said choreographer Iryna Zhadan, starting to weep. “I cry and pray a lot for the dead soldiers.”

Worries about the future

More than 100 protesters were killed in clashes on and around the Maidan before their hate figure, Yanukovich, fell. Makeshift shrines have been erected around the square and some protesters are still camping out on its edges, worried about the fragile peace and the direction the country is taking.

Ukraine now has a pro-European leadership and a new president, Petro Poroshenko, who has intensified a military campaign in the east since being elected on May 25 but has also launched tentative peace talks with a Russian envoy.

He has promised a tough response to the shooting down of the plane which some say is needed to crush the separatists but others fear could lead to all-out war with rebels armed with tanks which Kiev and Washington say come from Russia.

Moscow denies backing the rebels. Facing the possibility of further Western sanctions, it disavows any plan for a military invasion to absorb mainly Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine.

But some Ukrainians still fear Russia and the West could fight a proxy war in Ukraine, and would rather let the rebellious regions of Donetsk and Luhansk go than face such a conflict.

“It’s awful. I just don’t understand why we need Donetsk and Luhansk,” said Lyudmila Shevchenko, a 60-year-old Kiev resident. “If they like it without us, let them live on their own and we won’t send our children to their deaths.”

The downing of the military plane as it came in to land at the airport outside Luhansk killed more government servicemen than any other incident since the conflict began.

It has increased tension as Moscow and Kiev try to agree how much Ukraine should pay for Russian gas before a Monday deadline for Kiev to pay $1.95 billion in debts or have its gas cut off, that could disrupt flows to the rest of Europe.

It also fuelled a violent protest at the Russian embassy in Kiev and a diplomatic spat over insulting comments by Ukraine’s foreign minister about President Vladimir Putin.

East does not mourn

But few sympathisers could be found in east Ukraine, where leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) ignored Poroshenko’s call for a day of mourning and did not arrange a minute’s silence to remember the victims.

“We could hold a day of mourning every day for the children and ordinary citizens who are dead because of the Ukrainians,” a DPR spokesman said. “In Kiev they’re mourning the deaths of soldiers who were coming here to kill innocent people — it’s unbelievable... If they don’t want soldiers to die, they shouldn’t have violated Luhansk airspace.”

In Donetsk, an industrial hub of one million people, there was as much discussion of the soccer World Cup in Brazil as of the shooting down of the plane. Many regard the Anti-Terrorist Operation, stepped up by Poroshenko, as driving a deeper rift between Ukrainians.

“They wanted a war, now they can have it. War brings casualties and they have to face that,” said Zina Demyanova, 60, an accountant.

Sergei, a 35-year-old waiter, described the downing of the plane as a “legitimate military victory”.

“I’m not sorry. I’m not mourning. We wanted to be acknowledged [by Kiev], the east [of Ukraine] wanted only that and they sent their killers instead,” he said.

A retired administrative clerk who gave her name only as Iryna was among the few questioned by Reuters in the east who said openly they regretted the loss of life on both sides.

“This [war] is nonsense, murder. I was crying last night, and I cry every day ever since this madness started because all these people have mothers and families, and children,” she said.

Others suggest few people are prepared to speak out against the rebels in the east because they are afraid.

“It’s a horrible day and I am honestly mourning. They killed 49 people in cold blood, people who came to protect their country from this backward lot,” said a student who gave her name only as Svetlana.

“You know, there are people in Donbass [the coal mining area of east Ukraine] who do not support this madhouse here and we are begging Kiev to rescue us.”

KIEV/NOVOHANNIVKA, Ukraine — Pro-Russian separatists shot down an army transport plane in east Ukraine on Saturday, killing 49 servicemen and dealing a blow to a military campaign to defeat the rebels and hold the country together.

President Petro Poroshenko promised an “adequate” response after the plane was hit by an anti-aircraft missile as it came in to land at the airport outside the city of Luhansk, a centre of the rebellion against central rule that began in April.

“All those involved in cynical acts of terrorism of this magnitude must be punished,” he said, declaring Sunday a day of mourning for the nine crew and 40 paratroopers killed.

He later consulted with his security and defence chiefs but gave no details of how they would retaliate.

Charred debris was scattered for hundreds of metres over the sloping wheat field where the plane came down overnight near Novohannivka, a village 20km southeast of Luhansk.

The tail section jutted up from the ground, with parts of the engines, fuselage and other parts lying around it.

A platoon of rebel forces clad in camouflage fatigues scoured through the ruins for ammunition that had been intended for the government forces in east Ukraine.

“This is how we work. The fascists can bring as many reinforcements as they want but we will do this every time. We will talk to them on our own terms,” said a stocky 50-year-old rebel who identified himself as Pyotr, his “nom de guerre”.

He had an assault rifle in one hand, a light machine gun in the other and two ammunition belts round his neck.

Tensions with the west

The death toll was the highest suffered in a single incident by government forces since the crisis flared in February and is likely to fuel tension between Russia and Kiev’s main ally, the United States, which accuses Moscow of arming the rebels.

Evidence that Russia is sending in heavy armour and weapons could encourage the United States and the EU to impose new sanctions on Moscow, so far limited largely to visa bans and asset freezes on some individuals, banks and companies.

“We condemn the shooting down of the Ukrainian military plane and continue to be deeply concerned about the situation in eastern Ukraine, including by the fact that militant and separatist groups have received heavy weapons from Russia, including tanks, which is a significant escalation,” a White House spokeswoman said.

Although Russian President Vladimir Putin denies Moscow is behind the uprising, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande expressed their dismay over the attack in a three-way telephone call with him.

Echoing the US criticism, the German government said in a summary of the call that Russia must control its borders effectively to prevent arms and combatants entering Ukraine and use its influence with the rebels to secure and protect a truce.

Gas talks

Ukrainian forces reclaimed from rebel control the city of Mariupol on Friday, a major port for export of steel. The Ukrainian flag was raised over regional government headquarters of the city of 500,000 that had long been a focus of clashes.

Ukraine’s presidential press service quoted the defence minister as telling Poroshenko more than 250 rebels had been killed in the past 24 hours.

It was also not clear how the rebel death toll was reached by Kiev’s pro-European authorities, and the separatists have scoffed at such high casualty estimates in the past.

The separatists say they get their weapons from looted military stockpiles. They shot down a military cargo plane last week, killing three people, and a general was among 14 killed when they hit an Mi-8 transport helicopter on May 29.

Despite the continuing violence, Ukraine and Russia have begun talks on a peace plan and Moscow made a goodwill gesture by agreeing to make a last attempt to solve a gas pricing dispute before a Monday deadline to cut off supplies to Kiev.

Talks were due to resume in Kiev on Saturday evening. Cutting off supplies to Kiev could also cause disruptions to deliveries to the European Union, which gets half its gas imports from Russia through Ukraine.

The talks have been complicated by tension over the uprising in Russian-speaking east Ukraine, which the rebels want Moscow to annexe, as it did Crimea in March. Their calls for a Russian invasion have gone unanswered.

Russia fears losing influence in Ukraine following the overthrow of its Moscow-leaning president in February and its new leaders’ pro-Western policies. Ukraine was ruled from Moscow in Soviet times and is seen by Russians as the cradle of their civilisation.

KABUL — Afghanistan hailed another successful election on Saturday when millions of people defied Taliban threats in a run-off vote to choose a new president as US-led troops withdraw.

But fraud allegations were likely from both campaign teams after the election, and a close count could lead to a contested result as the country undergoes its first democratic transfer of power.

The election will decide whether former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah or ex-World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani leads the country into a new era of declining international military and civilian assistance.

Despite being largely peaceful, polling day saw at least 150 minor attacks, including a Taliban rocket that hit a house near a polling station in the eastern province of Khost, killing five members of the same family.

“The voting has gone well and as planned. As you see, the turnout has been large,” said Independent Election Commission chief Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani as counting got under way.

He admitted there had been problems with ballot paper shortages, but said that affected polling stations had been resupplied.

President Hamid Karzai is due to step down after ruling Afghanistan since 2001, when a US-led offensive ousted the austere Taliban regime for sheltering Al Qaeda militants behind the 9/11 attacks.

A smooth handover would be a major achievement for the international effort to establish a functioning state after the depredations of the Taliban era.

“We are very proud to be choosing our favourite candidate,” Karzai said after voting. “Today Afghanistan goes from a transition period towards long-lasting peace.”

In the first-round vote in April, the insurgents also failed to launch a high-profile attack while voter turnout was more than 50 per cent.

“As we promised, the security was better and we had better planning,” said interior minister Omar Daudzai on Saturday. “The enemy’s attacks have had very little impact.”

Daudzai said the day was proof that the security forces, who have been trained by the US-led military coalition, will be able to protect the country when all NATO-lead combat troops exit Afghanistan this year.

Both candidates cast their ballots in Kabul, dipping a finger in ink to register that they had voted.

“We do not want even one fraudulent vote for us,” Abdullah told reporters, while Ghani said via Twitter: “We ask everyone to prevent, avoid and discourage people from rigging.”

On the eve of the run-off, UN head of mission Jan Kubis had issued a stark warning to candidates’ supporters not to resort to the ballot-box stuffing that marred the 2009 election when Karzai retained power.

The two candidates came top of an eight-man field in the April election, triggering the run-off as neither reached the 50 per cent threshold needed for outright victory.

Abdullah secured 45 per cent of the vote with Ghani on 31.6 per cent, after investigations into fraud claims from both sides.

On the campaign trail, they offered similar pledges to tackle rampant corruption, build much-needed infrastructure and protect citizens from violence.

“I want someone who can improve our economy, create jobs and improve our lives,” said Janat Gul, 45, a shopkeeper voting in Kabul.

“If the economy is good there will be no insurgency, everyone will be busy working, not fighting.”

Harsh terrain and poor roads make holding an Afghan election a logistical challenge, with thousands of donkeys used to transport ballot boxes to remote villages.

Counting the ballot will take weeks. The preliminary result is due on July 2 and a final result on July 22.

Ahead of the vote, the Taliban had threatened to kill voters and officials, saying the election was an American plot “to impose their stooges”.

Karzai, who is constitutionally barred from a third term in office, has fulfilled his pledge not to interfere in the election — in public at least — though he is tipped to retain influence after handing over power.

BANGKOK — Thailand’s military government announced that it has fully lifted a nationwide curfew it imposed after seizing power last month, saying there is no threat of violence and that tourism needs to be revived.

Political protests and criticism of the coup, however, remain banned by the junta, which said a return to elected civilian rule cannot be expected for at least 15 months.

The curfew had earlier been reduced to four hours from seven hours, and had been lifted in several resort areas popular with tourists after complaints from the tourism industry over the financial damage it was causing.

“The overall situation in other areas of the country has been resolved and there is no tendency towards possible violence. Therefore, in order to relieve and mitigate the impact on people’s daily lives, and to boost tourism by Thais and foreigners, the curfew order is being cancelled in the rest of the country,” the junta said in a statement issued Friday night over all domestic TV stations.

“It’s brilliant because like last night we wanted to see the World Cup match but we couldn’t because it was on at 2am,” said Sinead Dowd, 27, a tourist from County Kerry, Ireland. “So yes, it’s great.”

In an address before the curfew announcement, army commander Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha briskly listed the junta’s achievements — including the seizure of weapons linked to political unrest, and scores of reconciliation meetings among rival political camps — and its plans, especially on the economic front.

“There are still many problems left,” he acknowledged. “Please give us time to deal with these problems.”

Prayuth told civil servants earlier Friday that a temporary constitution would be drafted and an interim government installed in about three months, in his most specific timeline yet on a possible transfer of power after the coup.

He has said it could take more than a year after that for elections to be held because peace and reforms must be achieved first in the deeply divided country.

“A government will likely be set up in August or early September,” Prayuth said. “When... we have a government, we will move forward. Then the reform council can begin.”

Among the areas where the curfew had remained in effect was the capital, Bangkok, because of its political volatility. Until the May 22 coup, it had been the scene of a half a year of anti-government protests and political turmoil that left at least 28 people dead and the government paralysed.

The government had been elected by a majority of voters three years ago. Prayuth has justified the coup as necessary to restore order.

But since taking power, the army appears to be carrying on the fight of the anti-government protesters by mapping out a similar agenda to redraft the constitution and institute political reforms before elections, just as they had demanded. It has also gone after politicians from the previous pro-government “Red Shirt” movement that had vowed to take action if there was a coup.

On Thursday, a military court extended the detention of prominent activist Sombat Boonngam-anong for 12 more days. He has been held without charges since his arrest June 5, but has been informed that under martial law he faces up to 14 years in prison on possible charges of inciting unrest, violating cyber laws and defying the junta’s orders.

Sombat had spearheaded an online campaign calling for people to raise a three-finger salute borrowed from “The Hunger Games” to show opposition to the coup.

KARACHI — Pakistan’s government was Thursday ordered to lift a travel ban on former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in a court decision that could draw a line under a raft of legal troubles.

Musharraf has been battling several court cases — including treason charges for imposing emergency rule in 2007 — since he returned to Pakistan last year to contest elections, stoking tensions between civilian authorities and the powerful military.

His exit from Pakistan could help ease those tensions at a time when the country is fighting a resurgent Taliban following a brazen attack on Karachi’s airport this week that left dozens dead.

Presiding judge Muhammad Ali Mazhar of the Sindh high court in Karachi said the ban “placing the name of retired General Pervez Musharraf on the exit control list is struck down”.

“The operation of the judgement is suspended for 15 days so that the respondent [the government] may file appeal before the supreme court.”

Musharraf has said he wants the travel ban lifted so he can visit his sick mother in Dubai, but many in Pakistan see it as a ruse to flee the country and avoid the litany of criminal cases dating back to his 1999-2008 rule.

But his lawyer Farogh Naseem said: “Musharraf does not want to live like a convicted man. If he is allowed to leave Pakistan, he will come back whenever he is needed.”

ISLAMABAD/MIRANSHAH — US drones fired missiles at Taliban hideouts in Pakistan killing at least 10 militants in response to a deadly attack on Karachi airport, officials said on Thursday, in the first such raids by unmanned CIA aircraft in six months.

Two top government officials said Islamabad had given the Americans “express approval” for the strikes — the first time Pakistan has admitted to such cooperation.

Underlining Pakistan’s alarm over the brazen Taliban attack on the airport, just weeks after peace talks with the Islamist militants stalled, the officials told Reuters a “joint Pakistan-US operation” had been ordered to hit the insurgents.

Another official said Pakistan had asked the United States for help after the attack on the country’s busiest airport on Sunday, and would be intensifying air strikes on militant hideouts in coming days.

Pakistan publicly opposes US drone strikes, saying they kill too many civilians and violate its sovereignty, although in private officials have admitted the government supports them.

“The attacks were launched with the express approval of the Pakistan government and army,” said a top government official, requesting not to be named as he was not authorised to discuss the issue with the media.

“It is now policy that the Americans will not use drones without permission from the security establishment here. There will be complete coordination and Pakistan will be in the loop.

“We understand that drones will be an important part of our fight against the Taliban now,” the official added.

The strikes were the first in the nuclear-armed South Asian nation since an attack in December last year in which three suspected militants were killed. The CIA conducts covert drone operations against terrorism suspects.

Speculation has been rising that Pakistan is preparing for a full-scale military operation in North Waziristan, a scenario Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has resisted for months in favour of a negotiated end to the insurgency.

But talks with the Taliban have collapsed many times since Sharif announced his plan in February and set up a committee of negotiators, mainly over Taliban demands that the government withdraw all troops from tribal areas and impose Sharia law.

Afghanistan connection

Pakistan military sources said six militants including four Uzbeks were killed in the first strike on Wednesday around 5km north of Miranshah, the capital of the North Waziristan tribal region where Taliban insurgents are holed up.

The second attack killed four militants in the same area around 2am on Thursday.

Another source, a senior member of the Afghan Taliban, put the death toll at 16, with 10 killed in the second strike.

A senior member of the Afghan Taliban said all the 10 militants killed in the second strike were affiliated with the feared Haqqani network that regularly launches attacks on Western forces in Afghanistan and which until last month held US soldier Bowe Bergdahl.

“The drones targeted two mini vans which were carrying Taliban fighters associated with the Haqqani network to Afghanistan for an attack,” the Taliban commander said.

The twin drone strikes came after at least 38 people, including 10 insurgents, were killed when militants raided Karachi airport on Sunday night.

The Pakistani Taliban are allied with the Afghan militants of the same name and share a similar jihadist ideology.

But they operate as a separate entity, focused entirely on toppling the Pakistani state and establishing strict Islamic rule, whereas the Afghan Taliban are united by their campaign against invading foreign forces.

Sunday’s assault destroyed prospects for peace talks between the Taliban and Sharif’s government, after months of failed attempts to engage Al Qaeda-linked militants in dialogue on how to end years of violence.

MOSCOW — Russia accused Ukraine’s new leader Thursday of failing to follow through on his vow to end two months of separatist bloodshed and demanded a probe into claims that his forces used banned bombs against civilians.

Moscow’s latest diplomatic offensive came a day after the two uneasy neighbours failed to make calm a furious row over gas prices that could see both Ukraine and parts of Europe cut off from Russian supplies next week.

But it also reflects the vast challenge facing Petro Poroshenko as he tries to use the momentum of his convincing May 25 presidential election victory to overcome Ukraine’s gravest crisis since its independence from Moscow in 1991.

Poroshenko’s office said he also had “substantive and extended” talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin by telephone on Thursday about ways to stop the fighting convulsing the separatist east.

The talks are the first reported between the two leaders since German Chancellor Angela Merkel got them to shake hands on the sidelines of D-Day commemorations in Normandy on June 6.

The 48-year-old chocolate baron is trying to keep the future of his splintered and nearly bankrupt country tied to Europe while at the same time not provoking the Kremlin — already in control of the Crimea peninsula — into any more aggressive moves.

But Russia on Thursday indicated that its patience with Poroshenko’s promises was wearing thin.

“The lack of any progress whatsoever in efforts to stop the violence and halt military operations... is causing increasing concern,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters.

He pointed to Russian media claims of Ukrainian forces using incendiary bombs — designed to set off fires and used widely during the Vietnam war before being banned by the United Nations — as “a cause for special concern”.

Ukraine’s military dismissed the banned weapon charges as “absurd” and accused Ruswsia of allowing the rebels to send three Soviet-era T-72 tanks across its border and into the eastern zone of conflict on Thursday morning.

But there was also a hint of compromise on Thursday in Moscow’s tone.

Lavrov observed that “there is still hope that President Poroshenko’s statement about stopping the violence will be carried out and negotiations will begin.”

And the two sides are due to send a joint humanitarian mission into the separatist rust belt on Friday — a rare example of cooperation in a conflict that has claimed 270 lives and brought Ukraine’s most economically vital region to a standstill.

Poroshenko peace plan 

Poroshenko on Sunday made the surprise promise to end the fighting by the end of the week.

His aides and top Kremlin envoys have since had daily consultations in Kiev that on Thursday produced what Ukraine said was an initial “peace plan” now requiring Putin’s formal support.

Poroshenko further hinted on Wednesday that he was ready to meet separatist leaders who had laid down their arms.

But the militants have shown no sign of abandoning their drive to have the economically vital eastern industrial belt — home to nearly seven million mostly Russian speakers — come under Kremlin control.

Meanwhile, there were fresh manoeuvres in the third “gas war” between the two neighbours in less than a decade, which flared up when Moscow nearly doubled Kiev’s gas rate in the wake of the February ouster of Ukraine’s Russian-backed president.

Ukraine receives half of its gas supplies from Russia and transports 15 per cent of the fuel consumed in Europe.

The latest round of EU-mediated talks broke up on Wednesday in Brussels with Ukraine calling Putin’s offer to lower Kiev’s fuel price by more than 20 per cent a “trap”.

ANSEONG, South Korea — Thousands of South Korean police forced their way into the compound of a splinter religious group Wednesday in their search for a fugitive businessman wanted in connection with April’s ferry disaster.

Live television reports showed police officers, many in full riot gear, streaming into the sprawling church and farming complex in a morning raid in Anseong, 80 kilometres south of Seoul.

A spokesman for the Gyeonggi province police force said 6,000 officers were involved.

The huge operation came a day after President Park Geun-hye urged police and prosecutors to step up a manhunt for Yoo Byung-eun, 72, a leading member of the Evangelical Baptist Church of Korea.

Yoo is the patriarch of the family behind the Chonghaejin Marine Co. — the company that owned and operated the 6,825-tonne Sewol passenger ferry which sank on April 16 with the loss of 300 lives, most of them schoolchildren.

“Yoo must be brought to justice,” Park told a Cabinet meeting.

He is wanted for questioning on possible charges of embezzlement and criminal negligence, as prosecutors investigate the extent to which the Sewol disaster was caused by a lack of safety standards and regulatory violations.

The raid netted three church followers suspected of helping Yoo evade a nationwide dragnet put in place after he defied an official summons to surrender to prosecutors last month.

Police were searching for 10 more alleged accomplices identified in a warrant that was “also aimed at getting hold of Yoo and his son”, a prosecutor told AFP.

Ferry company ‘brushed aside’ warnings 

Yoo has no direct stake in Chonghaejin, but his children and close aides control it through a complex web of holding companies.

A reward of 500 million won ($490,000) has been offered for information leading to the capture of Yoo and 100 million won for that of his eldest son, Yoo Dae-kyun.

Police had raided the church complex in Anseong three weeks ago but came away empty-handed, amid reports that Yoo may have fled overseas.

The church followers erected a barricade at the entrance to the complex, but made no move to block the police Wednesday after they forced their way through.

More than 100 members staged a sit-down protest outside the main gate of the complex, singing hymns and chanting slogans.

One spokesman argued that Yoo was being set up as a fall guy for the Sewol disaster, because the government was unwilling to accept responsibility for regulatory failings that contributed to the tragedy.

“[Prosecutors] should fully investigate the true cause of the accident before arresting Yoo,” he said in a statement read out to reporters.

“Our church will give 500 million won for those who reveal the truth behind the accident,” he added.

Yoo has described himself as an artist and photographer, and was once convicted of fraud when a company under his control went bankrupt.

The Sewol’s regular captain, who was off duty on the day of the accident, has told prosecutors that Chonghaejin Marine Co. “brushed aside” repeated warnings that the 20-year-old ship had stability issues following a renovation in 2012.

Five Chonghaejin officials have been arrested on various charges, including criminal negligence and breaches of maritime safety laws.

The police operation also came a day after the trial opened of 15 of the Sewol’s surviving crew.

The captain and three of his senior crew members are charged with “homicide through wilful negligence” and could face the death penalty if convicted.

MOSCOW — Russia and Ukraine were to resume efforts to resolve a gas pricing dispute late on Tuesday after a Russian deadline for Kiev to pay some of its debts passed without Moscow cutting off supplies.

The gas dispute is at the heart of a crisis between Russia and Ukraine, and failing to resolve it would set back peace moves that are gaining momentum after weeks of violence in east Ukraine.

Russia gave Ukraine until 10am Moscow time (0600 GMT) on Tuesday to pay some of the billions of dollars it owes, but pulled back from the deadline after officials said talks brokered by the European Commission would continue in Brussels.

Russian energy ministry spokeswoman Olga Golant confirmed the Russian delegation was flying back to Brussels for evening talks after consultations with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The Russian leader will have the final say on any deal.

After annexing Crimea in March following the overthrow of Ukraine’s Moscow-leaning president, and facing unpredictable events in east Ukraine, Putin appears to have reason to reduce tension.

Ukraine looks poised to pay more of its debt, but talks have stalled on the price, threatening possible supply disruptions to the European Union, which gets about a third of its gas imports from Russia, almost half of it via Ukraine.

A source at Gazprom said Russia was supplying Ukraine with the usual volumes of gas and levels may have increased recently.

“Ukraine has been taking 112-115 million cubic metres a day, at a peak, as it pumps gas into storage facilities. Transit to Europe remains stable, at 200 million cubic metres per day,” the source said.

Talks between Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission have been going on while Kiev, Moscow and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe discuss peace proposals put forward by Ukraine’s new president, Petro Poroshenko.

Those talks have produced what Kiev says is a mutual understanding on key aspects of the peace plan, intended to end an insurrection by separatist rebels who want to join parts of Russian-speaking east Ukraine with Russia.

Disagreement on price mechanism

The talks, which ended early on Tuesday, faltered over the price Moscow would charge Kiev in future.

Ukraine wants to change the 2009 contract that locked Kiev into buying a set volume of gas, whether it needs it or not, at $485 per 1,000 cubic metres — the highest price paid by any customer in Europe.

Moscow dropped the price to $268.50 after Ukraine’s then-president Viktor Yanukovych turned his back on a trade and association agreement with the European Union last year, but reinstated the original price after he was ousted in February.

Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan, who stayed in Brussels all day Tuesday, said the negotiations had stumbled over a Russian price mechanism proposal, which would link lower prices to an export duty.

Russia has floated the idea of scrapping its export duty for gas exports to Ukraine — $100 per 1,000 cubic metres, introduced after Moscow annexed Crimea — to reduce the price for the neighbouring country.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday he had proposed “a very constructive plan, which we believe all stakeholders could and should accept”.

Moscow has said Ukraine must pay some of its debt before it can talk about price. Kiev paid off $786 million of its debts in late May and Russian officials have suggested it could pay off a $1.45 billion for November and December and a further $500 million as a part of a bill for April and May deliveries.

“The Russia-Ukraine gas tensions are not over yet, and will likely continue for a while, further threatening the stability and reliability of Russian gas transit to the EU via Ukraine,” analysts from Moscow-based Alfa bank said in a note.

KARACHI — Taliban gunmen attacked a security post outside Pakistan’s Karachi airport on Tuesday, a day after an all-night siege by the militants left 37 dead and shredded a tentative peace process.

The latest assault on the airport raised further questions about the authorities’ ability to secure key facilities in the face of a resurgent enemy, and came as air force jets pounded suspected militant hideouts in the northwest, killing 25 people.

The attack on the security post targeted an entry point to an Airport Security Force (ASF) camp 500 metres from the airport’s main premises, and around a kilometre from the passenger terminal.

Police, paramilitary rangers and army all raced to the site but officials reported there had been no casualties and they had not traded fire with the militants.

“Two people came towards the ASF [Airport Security Force] checkpost and started firing,” Colonel Tahir Ali, a spokesman for the force told reporters. “Nobody has been killed or injured,” he added.

Army spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa confirmed the incident was over, but said three to four assailants were involved.

“Three-four terrorists fired near ASF camp, ran away. No breach of fence, no entry. Chase is on, situation under control,” he tweeted.

Flights resumed after temporarily being suspended for the second time in as many days, Abid Qaimkhani, a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority, told AFP.

A senior rangers official at the scene who wished to remain anonymous said the gunmen may have fled to a nearby shanty settlement.

“We are chasing them, we will get them, its not easy to hide here, there are no buildings, no population except for two small shanty towns nearby,” he told AFP.

The Taliban later claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they were in response to air strikes in the tribal areas.

“Today’s attack on ASF [Airport Security Force] in Karachi is in response to the bombardment on innocent people in Tirah Valley and other tribal areas. We will continue such attacks,” spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said, referring to Pakistani air strikes of suspected militant hideouts.

Air strikes 

Earlier in the morning, Pakistani jets launched air strikes on a militant-infested tribal district in apparent retaliation for Monday’s siege.

The military said nine “terrorist hideouts” were destroyed in the raids, launched after the Taliban stormed Pakistan’s biggest airport, killing 37 people in an all-night battle that ended Monday.

The dramatic siege by heavily armed militants targeting Pakistan’s economic hub piled pressure on the government to act.

The strikes were the latest in a succession of attacks carried out by the Pakistani military in the tribal belt this year after talks with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) broke down.

The last was in North Waziristan in late May, killing at least 75 people and triggering an exodus of some 58,000 people — half of them in the past few days in fear of a ground offensive that has been anticipated for years.

The military’s death toll from Tuesday’s strikes, in the restive Tirah Valley area of Khyber tribal district, could not be independently verified. The district was also targeted in April, with aerial bombing that killed dozens.

Resurgent Taliban 

Pakistan entered into talks with the Taliban in February and agreed upon a ceasefire in March, which broke down a month later.

Hasan Askari, an analyst, said the talks period had allowed the Taliban to gather their strength while the government dithered over what to do.

“The Taliban are very clear so far as their targets are concerned —they want to humble the Pakistani state and they are striving for it,” he said.

“They re-grouped themselves during the last couple of months as the talks process continued and they can do these things for the next couple of weeks and then they will need time to regroup again,” he added.

Many observers believe the peace process is dead and that the government must now take more strident measures, including attacking the Taliban’s North Waziristan stronghold.

An offensive there has been long rumoured but analysts say it is unclear if the military has the ability to carry out the operation without assistance from the Afghan side of the border where militants are likely to flee in the event of an attack.

The civilian exodus from the region has been fuelled by a leaflet distributed last week by local warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who is seen as friendly to Pakistan while concentrating his attacks on NATO forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Bahadur’s leaflet told residents to leave their homes because the government was likely to begin an offensive, and included a veiled threat to join hands with the TTP if the government did not agree to end air strikes there.