Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko warned that continuing bombardments that killed dozens had plunged a peace plan reached in Minsk after marathon talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin into "big danger" before it even got off the ground.
Martial law will be introduced all over Ukraine in case of failure of the cease-fire, Poroshenko said Saturday, reported Ukraine's UNIAN news agency.
The cease-fire, due to take effect from 22:00 GMT Saturday, will be the first test of the commitment by Kiev and pro-Russian separatists to the freshly-inked peace plan.
The UN Security Council was expected to meet on Sunday for an emergency session.
US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the US had received reports of heavy weapons being moved into eastern Ukraine from Russia over the past few days, and more apparently on the way.
Kiev and the West accuse Russia of pouring arms and troops into Ukraine to shore up the rebels. The Kremlin has consistently denied the charges, but the pro-Moscow rebels boast the modern heavy weaponry of a regular army.
Russia on Saturday accused Kiev and Western nations of distorting the cease-fire agreement. "Ukraine's official representatives, as well as those of several Western countries, the US in particular, have essentially expressed solidarity with the opinion of radical nationalists in the parliament and have begun to distort the contents of the Minsk agreements," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
But Russia is ready to facilitate realization of the agreements, the ministry added.
Russia is the "guarantor" of the Ukrainian reconciliation, not a party that needs to fulfill the Minsk agreement as Russia is not a participant in the conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told RIA Novosti on Friday.
The Ukrainian military said on Saturday there was no let-up in a pro-Russian rebel offensive in east Ukraine, reporting 120 separate attacks in the past 24 hours.
Ukraine's nationalist paramilitary faction Right Sector on Friday rejected the Minsk peace deal and stated that their units in eastern Ukraine will continue fighting, Russia's RIA Novosti reported.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned Russia that the EU, which has already slapped Moscow with sanctions over the crisis, is not ruling out further measures if the truce fails.
The G7 nations - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US - also voiced concern about the violence and the build-up of weapons in eastern Ukraine.
The G7 warned it was ready to "intensify the costs" for anyone who broke the terms of the agreement.
The fragile agreement is seen as the best hope of ending the conflict, which has killed at least 5,480 people, but skepticism remains high after the collapse of a similar previous peace plan.
Rebel leaders have said the new deal raises hopes of peace but warned there would be no more talking if it fails.
The new Minsk agreement is broadly similar to an earlier failed deal in September and is fraught with potential pitfalls.
Both sides have to start withdrawing heavy weapons from the frontline within two days of the start of the cease-fire to establish a buffer zone between 50 to 140 kilometers wide, depending on the range of the weapons.
Kiev will also begin retaking control over the approximately 400-kilometer stretch of Russia's border with rebel-held Ukraine, but only after local elections are held.
Source:Agencies-Global Times
14-15/2/15
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Wall Street Journal: Images appear to show Russian artillery targeting Ukrainian town...
ReplyDeleteBRUSSELS - U.S. officials released photos on Feb. 14 they said showed Russian artillery targeting the strategic Ukrainian town of Debaltseve in the days and hours before a cease-fire was set to take effect...............http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine-abroad/wall-street-journal-images-appear-to-show-russian-artillery-targeting-ukrainian-town-380679.html
14/2/15
The Russian Ministry of Defense has branded new claims by the US ambassador to Ukraine as “crystal ball gazing.” The ambassador tweeted pictures of what he said were Russian armed forces in Debaltsevo, eastern Ukraine...
ReplyDeleteOn Saturday, the US ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, posted on Twitter what he says are satellite photos proving there are Russian artillery systems stationed near the town of Lomuvatka, about 20 kilometers northeast of Debaltsevo. The images could not be immediately verified.
Under the tweet, he said: “We are confident these are Russia military, not separatist systems.” The photographs were commissioned by the private Digital Globe satellite company....................http://rt.com/news/232391-military-twitter-russia-ukraine/
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