Russia supplying weapons, troops to Ukraine separatists
A destroyed tank lies on a road near the village of Lohvynove, near the eastern Ukrainian town of Debaltseve.
AFP, Frankfurt :
NATO believes that Russia has supplied more troops and weapons to pro-Russian separatists in east Ukraine, a German newspaper reported on Sunday.
“We have noticed again support for the separatists, with weapons, troops and training. Russia is still sending troops and arms from one side of the open border with Ukraine to the other,” a NATO official, who was not named, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Such acts would violate the Minsk peace accords, which are supposed to end the fighting in Ukraine.
The accusations emerge as the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France are set to meet on Monday in Berlin to assess the implementation of the Minsk accords.
The situation in Ukraine remains tense, with frequent violations of the peace deal.
The OSCE has sent monitors to east Ukraine but demanded this week that both Ukraine’s pro-Russian separatists and its regular army stop intimidating or restricting the movements of the organisation’s 400 monitors.
Meanwhile, Germany’s foreign minister has invited his counterparts from Russia, Ukraine and France to Berlin Monday to discuss implementation of the peace agreement brokered in Minsk, Belarus in February.
The Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called the meeting for Monday evening at a government guest house in Berlin.
The conflict between Russia-backed rebels and government troops in eastern Ukraine has claimed more than 6,000 lives. The German and French leaders brokered a cease-fire deal in Minsk in an effort to stem the bloodshed, and hostilities have subsided although differences remain on the way forward.
NATO believes that Russia has supplied more troops and weapons to pro-Russian separatists in east Ukraine, a German newspaper reported on Sunday.
“We have noticed again support for the separatists, with weapons, troops and training. Russia is still sending troops and arms from one side of the open border with Ukraine to the other,” a NATO official, who was not named, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Such acts would violate the Minsk peace accords, which are supposed to end the fighting in Ukraine.
The accusations emerge as the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France are set to meet on Monday in Berlin to assess the implementation of the Minsk accords.
The situation in Ukraine remains tense, with frequent violations of the peace deal.
The OSCE has sent monitors to east Ukraine but demanded this week that both Ukraine’s pro-Russian separatists and its regular army stop intimidating or restricting the movements of the organisation’s 400 monitors.
Meanwhile, Germany’s foreign minister has invited his counterparts from Russia, Ukraine and France to Berlin Monday to discuss implementation of the peace agreement brokered in Minsk, Belarus in February.
The Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called the meeting for Monday evening at a government guest house in Berlin.
The conflict between Russia-backed rebels and government troops in eastern Ukraine has claimed more than 6,000 lives. The German and French leaders brokered a cease-fire deal in Minsk in an effort to stem the bloodshed, and hostilities have subsided although differences remain on the way forward.
