Ukraine orders 1-week govt ceasefire in eastern region
Separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions have declared independence from his government in Kyiv, occupied public buildings and fought with heavy weapons against Ukrainian troops.
Rebel leaders have already dismissed Poroshenko’s plan, and it remains to be seen whether they will comply and how much pressure Russia will put on them to cease fire.
The Kremlin denies supporting the insurrection and has said that Russians fighting in Ukraine are doing so as private citizens.
Russia said in a statement that an initial analysis of Poroshenko’s plan shows that “it’s not an invitation for peace and talks, but an ultimatum” to insurgents in southeast Ukraine to lay down their weapons. It said the plan “lacks the main element—an offer to start talks.”
The Kremlin said Poroshenko’s government issued the peace plan “deliberately or accidentally” at roughly the same moment that Ukrainian forces fired into Russian territory, wounding a Russian customs officer. It said the Russian side was waiting for Ukrainian “explanations and excuses” over the attack.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said that its forces were trying to flush out insurgents near the border checkpoint, but denied targeting it.
The White House said in a statement that U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed the ceasefire and spoke Friday by phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and separately with French President Francois Hollande. All three leaders agreed that if Russia doesn’t take immediate steps to calm tensions in eastern Ukraine the United States and Europe will impose new penalties on Russia, the statement said.
Leonid Slutsky, a senior lawmaker in the lower house of Russian parliament, said Russian President Vladimir Putin could be waiting to see concrete action by the Ukrainian forces to stop fighting.
Putin orders military alert
MOSCOW (AP)—Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday ordered military forces in central Russia on combat alert as well as a drill of airborne troops, a day after Ukraine ordered a ceasefire with pro-Russian rebels.
NATO said earlier last week that Russia has resumed a military build-up on the border with Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists have been fighting government forces for weeks in a conflict that has left about 300 people dead and displaced over 34,000.
The combat alert in the central military district, which encompasses the Volga region and the Ural mountains but not western Russia, will last until Saturday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said, quoted by Russian state news agencies.