Fighting
strains Ukraine ceasefire, Putin urges dialogue
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[June 23, 2014]
MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) - Fighting
flared between Ukrainian and pro-Moscow separatist forces, both sides
reported on Sunday, further straining a unilateral ceasefire declared by
Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin pressed Kiev to talk to the
rebels. Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, at separate
ceremonies marking the anniversary of Nazi Germany's invasion of the
Soviet Union, both stressed the need to bring peace to Ukraine's
rebellious east.
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The seven-day ceasefire came under pressure almost as soon at it
began on Friday night, with the government accusing the separatists
of attacking its military bases and posts on the Russian border. The
violence continued for a second night into Sunday.
"Unfortunately, what we are seeing ... tells us that the fighting is
still going on and last night we saw some active use of artillery
from the Ukrainian side," Putin said after laying flowers at the
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow.
He said it was not clear whether artillery was used by the Ukrainian
army or the "so-called paramilitary of the right-wing forces"
supporting the government. He appeared to attach no blame to
separatist forces.
Poroshenko wants Putin's unqualified backing for a 15-point peace
plan he announced on Friday, before meetings with the European Union
in the coming week. These will include the signing on June 27 of an
association agreement with the bloc which includes a free trade
deal.
In his comments published on the Kremlin website, Putin repeated his
support for the ceasefire and peace plan in only general terms.
"We need to ensure that all fighting is stopped," he said.
"Ultimately the political process is the most important. It is
important that this ceasefire lead to dialogue between all opposing
sides in order to find compromises acceptable for all."
Poroshenko told U.S. Vice President Joe Biden during a phone call on
Sunday that Russian separatists continue to attack Ukrainian forces,
including with artillery, despite the ceasefire, the White House
said.
"The vice president reiterated that the United States was working
closely with its G-7 partners to prepare further economic sanctions
against Russia if Moscow did not take actions ... to stop the flow
of arms and militants across the border and use its influence to
publicly call on the separatists to lay down their arms," the White
House added.
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The insurgency in the largely Russian-speaking east erupted in April
after street protests in the capital Kiev toppled the Moscow-backed
leader Viktor Yanukovich. Russia subsequently annexed Ukraine's
Crimean peninsula and the West has accused Russia of supporting the
insurgency. French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor
Angela Merkel urged Putin by telephone on Sunday to work for the
resumption of talks to end the conflict, Hollande's office said. The
two leaders "reiterated the importance of ensuring full control of
the Russia-Ukraine border to prevent the infiltration of gunmen and
military equipment", the statement said. In Kiev, Poroshenko
stressed the need for dialogue, saying his plan "was specifically
put together to ensure peace, the laying down of weapons and to
establish, through talks, a single united state", news agency
Interfax Ukraine quoted him as saying. Ukraine's state border
service reported further rebel attacks on its posts in Luhansk
region on Sunday, while a separatist spokesman said Ukrainian forces
were firing mortars at a village near the Russian frontier. In
Donetsk region, which like Luhansk has declared itself a "people's
republic", rebels reported a morning shootout with Ukrainian troops
in Siversk, north of the city of Donetsk.
(Reporting by Alexei Anishchuk in Moscow, Aleksandar Vasovic in
Siversk, Alessandra Prentice in Kiev, Laurence Frost in Paris and
Mark Felsenthal in Washington; Editing by Richard Balmforth, David
Stamp and Eric Walsh)
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