Pro-Russia rebels press Ukraine offensive
Pro-Moscow rebels, backed by what NATO says is the open participation of Russian troops, pressed on with their offensive on Sunday, according to a Reuters report, after restarting the war in eastern Ukraine with the first all-out assault since a truce five months ago.
Seven Ukrainian servicemen have been killed and 24 wounded in fighting in separatist eastern territories in the past 24 hours, Kyiv military spokesman Vladislav Seleznyov said on Monday.
U.S. President Barack Obama said Washington was considering all options short of military action to isolate Russia, stated the Reuters report. The European Union called an emergency meeting of foreign ministers of its 28 member states.
“We are deeply concerned about the latest break in the ceasefire and the aggression that these separatists — with Russian backing, Russian equipment, Russian financing, Russian training and Russian troops — are conducting,” Obama told a news conference during a visit to India. “I will look at all additional options that are available to us short of military confrontation and try to address this issue. And we will be in close consultation with our international partners, particularly European partners.” NATO accuses Moscow of sending troops to fight on behalf of rebels in territory the Kremlin has dubbed “New Russia” in a war that has killed more than 5,000 people.
Ukraine’s leader, however, has vowed to “calm” fighting with pro-Russia rebels in east Ukraine after 30 people were killed there on Saturday. Speaking after an emergency meeting of Ukraine’s security council, the BBC reports that Mr Poroshenko said that a peace deal signed in September in Minsk was the only solution to the conflict. Russia’s foreign minister also urged “comprehensive political dialogue”. Both sides blame each other for the continuing fighting.
More than 5,000 people have been killed in fighting since the rebels seized a large swathe of Donetsk and Luhansk regions last April, UN officials say. More than a million people have been displaced. Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of arming the rebels and sending its troops into Ukrainian territory. Russia has denied directly arming the separatists, and blames Ukraine for the upsurge in fighting.