BERLIN (AP) — Foreign ministers from Russia, Ukraine,
Germany and France meeting in Berlin agreed Wednesday on a series of
steps for a resumption of the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine where
fighting between government troops and pro-Russia separatists has taken
more than 400 lives since April.
The steps include reopening talks
no later than Saturday "with the goal of reaching an unconditional and
mutually agreed sustainable cease-fire" to be monitored by the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, their declaration
said.
Fighting in eastern Ukraine has increased since a
much-violated 10-day cease-fire expired late Monday. Four Ukrainian
troops were killed as government forces carried out more than 100
attacks on rebel positions, a military official said.
Russia
supported the proposal to give Ukrainian border guards and OSCE
representatives access to Russian territory to take part in controlling
two border crossings once the cease-fire is in place, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
Border posts have become a key issue
because Ukraine and the United States say military equipment and
reinforcements are flowing across the border from Russia. Moscow denies
arming the rebels and describes Russian citizens fighting with them as
volunteers.
Asked whether Russia has any influence over the
rebels, Lavrov said that "we have possibilities to influence those who
defend their families, their soil and their territory."
Lavrov
stressed that Russia would not allow the cease-fire to be used to give
the military time to regroup and bring in reinforcements, as the
separatists accused the troops of doing during the previous cease-fire.
The
ministers’ declaration specifically states that the cease-fire
negotiations will be handled by the so-called contact group, something
Russia has insisted upon. The group, which already has held two rounds
of peace talks, includes Ukrainians trusted by Russia, the Russian
ambassador and separatist leaders.
German Foreign Minister
Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed hope that the group would meet before
Saturday, calling it "a first and an important step."
Since the
earlier cease-fire expired, three troops died in rebel attacks on
government vehicles and checkpoints and 10 were wounded, National
Security and Defense Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko said. The federal
border guards said one guard was killed when the Novoazovsk crossing
point came under attack by rebels with mortars in the Donetsk region.
Donetsk
is one of two eastern regions where separatists have declared
independence from the government in Kiev. Ukrainian officials said
pro-Russian rebels had been forced out of three villages.
Ukraine said it recaptured a key border post Tuesday at Dovzhanskiy, which rebels had mined with
explosives.
Another
main border crossing at Izvaryne was closed Wednesday because of
fighting and an AP reporter saw plumes of black smoke rising above it.
Ukrainian officials said rebels shelled Ukrainian troops in the area and
a Ukrainian armored vehicle was destroyed by a mine.
At the small
Sjevernyi border crossing to the north, Ukrainian border guards had
abandoned their post, leaving three Russian border guards to process the
several dozen Ukrainians who passed through Wednesday afternoon.
Fresh
black caterpillar tread marks from two armored vehicles that had
crossed the border were clearly visible on the one-lane road. It was
impossible to determine which direction they had traveled, but there
have been no reports of armored vehicles moving from Ukraine into
Russia.
Fighting also was underway Wednesday in Luhansk, the other
eastern region where separatists have declared independence. In the
city of Luhansk, a stray missile hit a school near a rebel position but
no injuries were reported.
To the north, a steady, deep rumbling could be heard from shelling near the town of Metalist.
Before
the foreign ministers met, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she
"cannot rule out that we will have to go further" in imposing sanctions
on Russia.
The EU and the United States have already imposed
targeted sanctions mostly hitting individual officials in Russia and
have held off on more costly sanctions on entire industries.
The
White House said it was "unfortunate" that Russian-backed separatists
had not abided by the terms of the cease-fire or provided the assurances
that would have enabled Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to extend
it.
"A unilateral cease-fire doesn’t work, at least as a prolonged
strategy," spokesman Josh Earnest said on Wednesday. "Unfortunately, in
this case, it only fueled separatist violence and allowed the
separatists to make further advances."
___
David McHugh in
Kiev, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Balint Szlanko in Luhansk, Darlene
Superville in Washington and Lynn Berry in Moscow contributed to this
report.
BERLIN (AP) — Foreign ministers from Russia, Ukraine,
Germany and France meeting in Berlin agreed Wednesday on a series of
steps for a resumption of the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine where
fighting between government troops and pro-Russia separatists has taken
more than 400 lives since April.
The steps include reopening talks
no later than Saturday "with the goal of reaching an unconditional and
mutually agreed sustainable cease-fire" to be monitored by the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, their declaration
said.
Fighting in eastern Ukraine has increased since a
much-violated 10-day cease-fire expired late Monday. Four Ukrainian
troops were killed as government forces carried out more than 100
attacks on rebel positions, a military official said.
Russia
supported the proposal to give Ukrainian border guards and OSCE
representatives access to Russian territory to take part in controlling
two border crossings once the cease-fire is in place, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
Border posts have become a key issue
because Ukraine and the United States say military equipment and
reinforcements are flowing across the border from Russia. Moscow denies
arming the rebels and describes Russian citizens fighting with them as
volunteers.
Asked whether Russia has any influence over the
rebels, Lavrov said that "we have possibilities to influence those who
defend their families, their soil and their territory."
Lavrov
stressed that Russia would not allow the cease-fire to be used to give
the military time to regroup and bring in reinforcements, as the
separatists accused the troops of doing during the previous cease-fire.
The
ministers’ declaration specifically states that the cease-fire
negotiations will be handled by the so-called contact group, something
Russia has insisted upon. The group, which already has held two rounds
of peace talks, includes Ukrainians trusted by Russia, the Russian
ambassador and separatist leaders.
German Foreign Minister
Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed hope that the group would meet before
Saturday, calling it "a first and an important step."
Since the
earlier cease-fire expired, three troops died in rebel attacks on
government vehicles and checkpoints and 10 were wounded, National
Security and Defense Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko said. The federal
border guards said one guard was killed when the Novoazovsk crossing
point came under attack by rebels with mortars in the Donetsk region.
Donetsk
is one of two eastern regions where separatists have declared
independence from the government in Kiev. Ukrainian officials said
pro-Russian rebels had been forced out of three villages.
Ukraine said it recaptured a key border post Tuesday at Dovzhanskiy, which rebels had mined with
explosives.
Another
main border crossing at Izvaryne was closed Wednesday because of
fighting and an AP reporter saw plumes of black smoke rising above it.
Ukrainian officials said rebels shelled Ukrainian troops in the area and
a Ukrainian armored vehicle was destroyed by a mine.
At the small
Sjevernyi border crossing to the north, Ukrainian border guards had
abandoned their post, leaving three Russian border guards to process the
several dozen Ukrainians who passed through Wednesday afternoon.
Fresh
black caterpillar tread marks from two armored vehicles that had
crossed the border were clearly visible on the one-lane road. It was
impossible to determine which direction they had traveled, but there
have been no reports of armored vehicles moving from Ukraine into
Russia.
Fighting also was underway Wednesday in Luhansk, the other
eastern region where separatists have declared independence. In the
city of Luhansk, a stray missile hit a school near a rebel position but
no injuries were reported.
To the north, a steady, deep rumbling could be heard from shelling near the town of Metalist.
Before
the foreign ministers met, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she
"cannot rule out that we will have to go further" in imposing sanctions
on Russia.
The EU and the United States have already imposed
targeted sanctions mostly hitting individual officials in Russia and
have held off on more costly sanctions on entire industries.
The
White House said it was "unfortunate" that Russian-backed separatists
had not abided by the terms of the cease-fire or provided the assurances
that would have enabled Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to extend
it.
"A unilateral cease-fire doesn’t work, at least as a prolonged
strategy," spokesman Josh Earnest said on Wednesday. "Unfortunately, in
this case, it only fueled separatist violence and allowed the
separatists to make further advances."
___
David McHugh in
Kiev, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Balint Szlanko in Luhansk, Darlene
Superville in Washington and Lynn Berry in Moscow contributed to this
report.