Biden makes 2-day trip to Ukraine in sign of US support
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -- U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is coming to Ukraine's capital for a two-day visit aimed at pushing the country toward making reforms and reassuring it that the crisis in Syria is not overshadowing Washington's concerns about Ukraine.
Fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists has significantly diminished since early September, but tensions remain high because of unresolved questions about the final political status of the rebel regions in the east. Meanwhile, Western attention has turned largely toward the fight against Islamic extremism in Syria and Iraq.
Since Russia began airstrikes in Syria on Sept. 30, Ukrainian officials have worried their own country's troubles would fade from view.
Biden, who arrives late Sunday, will hold meetings Monday with President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk intended to counter that concern.
International monitors threatened by gunmen in east Ukraine
KIEV, Dec 6 (Reuters) -- International monitors in eastern Ukraine said that armed people fired into the air when they tried to approach a group of howitzers near a separatist-controlled village, in an area from which such weapons were supposed to be withdrawn under a ceasefire agreement.
A special mission (SMM) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire agreement which was reached by Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists in September.
Both sides were required to withdraw a wide range of weapons from a contact line to secure a fragile peace process, urged by leaders of Germany, France and Russia.
The mission said in a statement that the incident took place on Saturday at a field in the vicinity of Luhansk People's Republic (LPR)-controlled Yurivka, 26 km (16 miles) south-west of Luhansk. The SMM had observed 12 towed howitzers there, evidence of violation of the agreed withdrawal line.
"When the SMM further continued driving towards the howitzers and was at 80-100m distance, one of the armed individuals released a burst of fire into the air with an automatic rifle and another individual pointed his automatic rifle at the SMM," it said in the statement.
The monitors left the area and there was no injury or damage to either staff or their vehicles.
The ceasefire agreement requires both sides to provide the international monitors with full access to any places they need to verify a pullback of weapons.
"The SMM addressed the incident with senior LPR members, who acknowledged the seriousness of the incident, and said that they would examine it and inform the SMM accordingly," the mission said.
The ceasefire deal aims to end the conflict in which more than 8,000 people have been killed since fighting between Ukrainian troops and rebels seeking independence from Kiev erupted in April 2014.
Although the guns have been mostly silent since early September, Kiev and separatists continue to report casualties.
Ukraine's military spokesman said on Sunday one Ukrainian soldier had been killed in clashes with separatists in the past 24 hours. On Saturday, Kiev also reported one casualty.