Ukraine sticks to ceasefire deal – withdraws heavy weapons from war zones

#ukraineceasefire #Minsk #VladimirPutin #Ukraine #Kharkiv #Mariupol In keeping with the ceasefire accord, Ukrainian forces have started the process of withdrawing its heavy weapons from the warzones as agreed with the pro-Russian separatist rebels. This has been confirmed by a military spokesman and reported in news.sky.com dated 22 February 2015.
Under the terms of the peace agreement signed in Minsk there was to be an exchange of all prisoners as well as a cessation of hostilities – so far, only 139 Ukrainian soldiers and 52 rebels have been swapped.
However, there appears to be no corresponding gesture from the other side because convoys of armored vehicles have been tracked entering Ukraine from Russia. Also, attacks from pro-Russia rebels have been continuing near the village of Shyrokyne which is close to Mariupol. To add to the confusion, at least two people have been killed and 15 others wounded flowing the throwing of an "unknown explosive device" from a car in the government-controlled city of Kharkiv.
The Interior Ministry of Ukraine considers this as an act of terrorism and has taken place during a peace march to mark one year since former president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted from power. The authorities have detained some suspects in this regard.
In this respect, Air Chief Marshal Lord Stirrup has accused President Vladimir Putin of running a ‘gangster regime’ and has also remarked that UK should think on whether it should supply weapons to Ukraine.

Prisoner swap in Ukraine is a positive sign for peace

#Ukraineceasefire #Ukraine #Debaltseve #prisonerexchange #Luhansk After the announcement of cease fire in Ukraine, there have been reports of scattered violence but the exchange of government troops and pro-Russian rebels is seen to be a positive sign about the peace process as reported in news.sky.com dated 22 February 2015.
The peace agreement had been signed last week in Minsk and it envisages an exchange of all prisoners apart from cessation of hostilities.
The exchange of 139 Ukrainian soldiers and 52 rebels took place in no-man's land near the village of Zholobok, about 12 miles from Luhansk. This is a village located near the border in the country's war-torn east.
Some of the Ukrainians were on crutches and had to walk a distance of nearly two miles to a rendezvous point before the exchange was carried out. It has been observed that many of the soldiers exchanged looked to be injured and both sides accused the other of mistreating prisoners.
As understood from pro-Moscow rebels, most of the Ukrainian soldiers who have been released had been taken prisoner during fighting for the town of Debaltseve.
Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has been informed about these exchanges.
A spokesman of the Ukrainian security has revealed that the rebels are continuing to move equipment toward the port city of Mariupol. This is a matter of concern because, the rebels could make attempts to seize the city and establish a land corridor between mainland Russia and the Crimea.

Ukraine peace deal agreed upon with Putin – rebels to withdraw heavy artillery

#ukraine #minsk #putin #ceasefire It was a marathon session with people who mattered and who had met to resolve the crisis in Ukraine that appeared to be gradually going out of control. Present were President Vladimir Putin, President Petro Poroshenko, Chancellor Angela Markel and President Francois Hollande - and, at the end of the day, it was possible to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine's war with pro-Russian separatists.
The negotiations in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, to halt the spiraling bloodshed went on through the night and finally President Vladimir Putin emerged from the summit with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the French and German leaders to announce that an agreement had been reached on the 'main' points as reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 12 February 2015.
The Russian President indicated that a ceasefire would take effect on Sunday and that heavy weapons would be withdrawn from frontlines of the conflict. Already over 5,300 people have been killed in the violence.
French President Francois Hollande and Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko stressed that separatist leaders had signed the truce and this would replace an earlier ceasefire agreement that had been reached in Minsk in September but rarely observed.
At one point of time there were signs that all was not well but, finally, better sense appears to have prevailed and, one can only hope that the ceasefire will be honored this time.

US wants to arm Ukraine against the pro-Russian rebels

#johnkerry #minsk #prosussian #poroshenko #ukraine In view of the continued violence in Ukraine and the failure of peace talks in Minsk, the US is contemplating possibilities of arming Ukraine to enable them to fight against the pro-Russian rebels as indicated in theguardian.com dated 2 February 2015.
It is understood that proposals are under consideration in the US for providing defensive weapons and equipment to Ukrainian forces. Already the five-month truce has been broken. US secretary of state John Kerry and US joint chiefs chairman Martin Dempsey were open to discussions on such a line of action and NATO military commander General Philip Breedlove is also supportive of providing such lethal aid.
Even US national security adviser Susan Rice, who was opposed to such ideas, feels such action is needed in the present context.
John Kerry would be visiting Kiev for talks with President Petro Poroshenko and other Ukrainian officials. It may be recalled that in spite of months of sanctions on Russia, it has had no effect and Russia continues to arm the pro-Russian rebels. Till now, White House has not gone in for providing military aid to Ukraine in order to avoid provoking Russia.
However, with the adamant attitude of Russia, US could review the current scenario and could change its stance. The tentative plan appears to be to send $3bn in defensive arms and equipment to Ukraine, including anti-armor missiles as well as reconnaissance drones.

At least six killed in shell strike in Donetsk, Ukraine – peace talks abandoned

#ukraine #donetsk #luhansk #trolleybus #minsk At least six people who had queued up for aid outside the building in the center of the city have been killed when two artillery shells hit a cultural center and a trolleybus in Donetsk, Ukraine.
As per witnesses, five bodies were seen at this location - two of them were middle-aged women and two men were lying on the ground. Another man was killed in a car a very short distance away. He was trying to maneuver the car away as the shell came in, but did not succeed – he died in his driver's seat.
The shells damaged vehicles in the legion and, all the victims appeared to be dressed in civilian clothing. There is no clarity on whether the shells were fired by government troops or by pro-Russian separatists.
Reports also indicate about a battle in Debaltseve – this is believed to be a key government-held town of 25,000 people and it that straddles a railway that connect the two rebel centers of Luhansk and Donetsk.
President Barack Obama has, once again, expressed deep concern about renewed fighting between Russian-backed separatist and government forces in eastern Ukraine and has indicated that the US is exploring options short of military action to isolate Russia. US Secretary of State John Kerry has plans to visit Kiev for talks with President Petro Poroshenko and other Ukrainian officials.
The rebels have, reportedly, said that the peace talks due to take place in the Belarussian capital, Minsk, had been called off because Kiev did not send any representatives.

Ukraine peace talks in Minsk called off

#Ukraine #PeaceTalks #Minsk #crimea It has been reported that a key round of peace talks between the government of Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels which was supposed to be held in Mink has been called off for reasons that have not been disclosed. This has been disclosed by an official of Belarus – no immediate reason was given by the Belarusian foreign ministry.
The talks had tried to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine that erupted with the annexation of Crimea by Russia and has left 4,700 dead. A ceasefire and framework peace deal had been announced in Minsk in September but neither of these has been properly observed.
These latest talks included Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and there had been expectations that issues that would be addressed would be the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line, the exchange of prisoners and ending Ukraine's economic blockade of rebel-held areas.
A total of 4707 persons have been killed in the conflict that started in eastern Ukraine in April, and, out of that number 1357 have died since the 5 September ceasefire was agreed. It may be recalled that pro-Russian separatists had taken over the two eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk after Moscow annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in March. This action has not been recognized by either Ukraine or its allies.