February 17, 2015
LUHANSKE, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian government troops and Russia-backed rebels faced a deadline Tuesday to start pulling back heavy weapons from the front line in eastern Ukraine, but Associated Press reporters saw no signs of it on the ground.
Ukrainian military spokesman Anatoliy Stelmakh said in televised comments Tuesday that the separatists continued to attack government positions overnight around the town of Debaltseve and that the pullout hinged on the cease-fire being fully observed.
"As soon as the militants cease fire, the Ukrainian side will begin to withdraw heavy weaponry from the front line," he said. Fighting has stopped or subsided in some parts of war-torn eastern Ukraine, however. Rebel mouthpiece the Donetsk News Agency quoted rebel officials saying Tuesday they had not seen any violations of the cease-fire in their area since 8 p.m. Monday.
Debaltseve is a government-held town surrounded by rebel forces, and both sides claim it should be on their side of the cease-fire line. The issue was not resolved under a cease-fire agreement negotiated last week by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France.
Associated Press reporters saw artillery rounds fired Tuesday from Ukrainian government positions at rebel positions around Debaltseve. Sustained shelling was heard in the area all morning, some coming from Grad rocket launchers.
Elsewhere, at least one rebel leader claimed that his troops had begun to withdraw their heavy weapons. "I was at the front line last night, and our tanks, our artillery were pulling back," Igor Plotnitsky, the leader of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, northeast of Debaltseve, was quoted as saying by the Russian news agency Tass.
He added that he "expects the same from Ukraine." Due to security issues, his claims could not be immediately verified. The Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted rebel leader Andrei Purgin as saying the separatists plan to discuss the withdrawal of the weaponry later Tuesday with representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the group charged with monitoring the cease-fire, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The leaders of Ukraine, Russia and Germany discussed the cease-fire in a phone call late Monday. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to use his influence on the separatists to ensure that they stop the fighting.
Merkel's office reported that the three leaders agreed on "concrete steps to enable an observation" of the situation in Debaltseve by the OSCE. It did not elaborate on what these steps would be. OSCE representatives could not get to Debaltseve on Monday because of the heavy fighting there.
Geir Moulson in Berlin, Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow and Balint Szlanko in Artemivsk, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
LUHANSKE, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian government troops and Russia-backed rebels faced a deadline Tuesday to start pulling back heavy weapons from the front line in eastern Ukraine, but Associated Press reporters saw no signs of it on the ground.
Ukrainian military spokesman Anatoliy Stelmakh said in televised comments Tuesday that the separatists continued to attack government positions overnight around the town of Debaltseve and that the pullout hinged on the cease-fire being fully observed.
"As soon as the militants cease fire, the Ukrainian side will begin to withdraw heavy weaponry from the front line," he said. Fighting has stopped or subsided in some parts of war-torn eastern Ukraine, however. Rebel mouthpiece the Donetsk News Agency quoted rebel officials saying Tuesday they had not seen any violations of the cease-fire in their area since 8 p.m. Monday.
Debaltseve is a government-held town surrounded by rebel forces, and both sides claim it should be on their side of the cease-fire line. The issue was not resolved under a cease-fire agreement negotiated last week by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France.
Associated Press reporters saw artillery rounds fired Tuesday from Ukrainian government positions at rebel positions around Debaltseve. Sustained shelling was heard in the area all morning, some coming from Grad rocket launchers.
Elsewhere, at least one rebel leader claimed that his troops had begun to withdraw their heavy weapons. "I was at the front line last night, and our tanks, our artillery were pulling back," Igor Plotnitsky, the leader of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, northeast of Debaltseve, was quoted as saying by the Russian news agency Tass.
He added that he "expects the same from Ukraine." Due to security issues, his claims could not be immediately verified. The Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted rebel leader Andrei Purgin as saying the separatists plan to discuss the withdrawal of the weaponry later Tuesday with representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the group charged with monitoring the cease-fire, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The leaders of Ukraine, Russia and Germany discussed the cease-fire in a phone call late Monday. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to use his influence on the separatists to ensure that they stop the fighting.
Merkel's office reported that the three leaders agreed on "concrete steps to enable an observation" of the situation in Debaltseve by the OSCE. It did not elaborate on what these steps would be. OSCE representatives could not get to Debaltseve on Monday because of the heavy fighting there.
Geir Moulson in Berlin, Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow and Balint Szlanko in Artemivsk, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
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