Eastern Partnership summit urges Russia to pull troops from Ukrainian border

Participants in a two-day Eastern Partnership summit in Prague have urged Russia to pull its troops from the Ukrainian border in order to prevent a further escalation of the conflict. In a joint proclamation they recommended a decentralization of Ukraine and offered to mediate talks between the two country’s officials. The meeting of EU representatives and six post-Soviet republics who are seeking to establish closer political and economic ties with the EU was dominated by the deepening crisis in Ukraine. The EU Commissioner for Expansion Štefan Fule told the gathering the crisis in Ukraine was the worst crisis in Europe since 1945 and a signal for the EU to give greater support to the EU’s Eastern Partnership Project. The Eastern Partnership was joined by Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine during the Czech EU presidency in 2009.