NATO chief cites "disturbing" trends in eastern Ukraine
Brussels (dpa) - The situation in eastern Ukraine is headed "in the wrong direction" despite a ceasefire agreement reached in February, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned Monday.
"We see more loss of life, a rise in ceasefire violations,
obstruction of the monitors and continued Russian support for the separatists. This is a disturbing trend in the wrong direction," Stoltenberg told journalists in Brussels.
NATO foreign ministers are due to discuss the situation in Ukraine later this week, when they will meet in the Turkish city of Antalya.
The talks will also touch upon "the strategic implications of a more assertive Russia," Stoltenberg said.
Moscow has "a special responsibility" to ensure that the Ukraine ceasefire deal is implemented, he added, expressing "great concern" that there has "over such a long time" been a support for Ukrainian separatists and a Russian military build-up along the border.
"In eastern Ukraine, Russia and the separatists have capacity, capabilities which enable them to launch new attacks with very little warning time," he noted. "They have the capacity - what the intention is, I will not speculate on."
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are to discuss the crisis in a meeting on Tuesday in Sochi.
More than 6,000 civilians have been killed in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions since the conflict started in April last year, according to the United Nations.
Russia, Ukraine rebels have new ability to launch short-notice attacks: NATO
Brussels, May 11, 2015 (AFP) -- Russia and pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine now have the capacity to launch new attacks "with very little warning" after a sustained military build-up, NATO head Jens Stoltenberg said Monday.
"In eastern Ukraine, Russia and the separatists (now) have capabilities which enable them to launch new attacks with very little warning time" in violation of a ceasefire agreed in February, Stoltenberg said.
In Artemivsk, work on defenses against an expected attack from Russian-backed separatists has been delayed by months -- and volunteers digging trenches say the mayor is trying to sabotage the work. The mayor denies the claims, but admits the work started late. The city, which lies just 16 kilometers from separatist positions, was captured by separatists in April 2014 but retaken by Ukrainian forces in July. (Levko Stek, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service)
