US-led military exercises began in Ukraine yesterday after a day of deadly fighting between government forces and pro-Russian rebels in the restive east that has piled pressure on a shaky 10-day-old truce.
Local officials said six civilians died during heavy shelling around the rebel stronghold of Donetsk on Sunday, with Kiev accusing the separatists of jeopardizing the truce by intensifying attacks against government positions.
It is the highest civilian toll since the ceasefire was signed on Sept. 5, although a number of Ukrainian servicemen have also been reported killed over the past 10 days.
Photo: AFP
Soldiers from 15 nations, including the US, began military exercises dubbed “Rapid Trident 14” near the western city of Lviv, about 1,000km from the conflict in Donetsk.
The US was expected to send about 200 troops, the first such deployment since the pro-Moscow uprising erupted across eastern Ukraine in April.
Ukrainian Minister of Defense Valeriy Geletey on Sunday said that NATO member states were sending weapons to Ukraine, although this has been previously been denied.
Photo: AFP
A NATO official said he could neither confirm nor deny the claim “as any such delivery would be done on a bilateral basis.”
Ukraine’s new leaders have nevertheless announced they want to begin taking steps to join the Western military alliance, a red line for Kiev’s former Soviet masters in Moscow.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel “expressed concern” about the breaches in a telephone call late on Sunday, his office said.
It also said Merkel backed Poroshenko’s plans to introduce legislation in parliament this week, offering limited self-rule for the eastern regions that form the economic backbone of Ukraine, a key provision of the truce.
“The terrorist actions are threatening the realization of the Ukrainian president’s peace plan,” said Volodymyr Polyovy, a spokesman for the National Security and Defense Council in Kiev.
Poroshenko is to meet US President Barack Obama in the White House on Thursday.
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