普京要求議會收回出兵烏克蘭授權

President Vladimir Putin has asked the upper house of Russia's parliament to revoke the right it granted him in March to send the Russian military into Ukraine to defend Russian nationals and Russian-speaking Ukrainians

Mr. Putin had asked the Federation Council to authorize the use of Russian military force in Ukraine after the country's pro-Russian president was forced from power.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that the new step was taken to "normalize" the situation in eastern Ukraine, "and also in connection with the beginning of trilateral talks on the issue."

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko welcomed the move, with his office saying Tuesday that he views it as Mr. Putin's "first practical step" in support of the peace plan.

On Monday, pro-Russian separatist leaders joined Russian envoys and Ukrainian negotiators in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk for talks aimed at ending the crisis. Former president Leonid Kuchma represented Ukraine.

Late Monday, U.S. President Barack Obama urged Mr. Putin by telephone to help implement Mr. Poroshenko's peace plan, starting with the cease-fire the Ukrainian president declared on Friday.

Officials say further talks are set for this week.

The White House said the U.S. president called on Mr. Putin to pressure the pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine to observe the week-long cease-fire and to halt the flow of weapons across the border from Russia to Ukraine.

A leader of pro-Russian separatists battling Ukrainian troops in eastern Ukraine said Monday that the rebels will observe a truce until June 27.俄羅斯總統普京要求俄羅斯議會上院撤銷授權總統出兵烏克蘭的決定。俄羅斯議會上院3月授權總統出兵烏克蘭，保護俄羅斯公民和講俄語的烏克蘭人。

普京在親俄羅斯的烏克蘭總統被趕下臺後要求議會批准向烏克蘭出兵。

克里姆林宮發言人皮斯科夫星期二說，普京要求取消授權是爲了“促使東烏克蘭局勢正常化”，“也跟烏克蘭三方會談開始展開有關”。

烏克蘭總統波羅申科對普京的做法表示歡迎。烏克蘭總統辦公室星期二說，波羅申科認爲這是普京爲支持和平計劃而採取的第一個“實際步驟”。

親俄分離主義領袖、俄羅斯特使和烏克蘭談判代表星期一在東部城市頓涅茨克開始談判，目的在於結束危機。烏克蘭的談判代表是前總統庫奇馬。

美國總統奧巴馬星期一晚上在電話上敦促普京總統幫助實施波羅申科的和平計劃，首先實施波羅申科上星期五宣佈的停火。官員們說，三方本星期將還將繼續會談。

白宮說，奧巴馬總統呼籲普京向親俄分離主義分子施加壓力，要求他們遵守爲期一週的停火，並停止從俄羅斯向烏克蘭運送武器。

在烏克蘭東部地區與政府軍作戰的親俄分離分子的一名領導人星期一說，他們會遵守停火，直到6月27日。