Ukraine and Russian-backed rebels fought fiercely
across the east of the country on Friday despite a new peace deal brokered by Germany and France.
A ceasefire is due to come into effect from Sunday under the agreement, which
also envisages a withdrawal of the heavy weapons responsible for many of the
5,000 casualties in the conflict that broke out almost a year ago.
Kiev said pro-Russian rebels had built up their forces
across separatist-held zones since the deal and both sides accused each other
of killing civilians. Two people were killed and six wounded when a shell hit a
cafe in the Kiev-controlled town of Shchastya near rebel-held Luhansk in
eastern Ukraine, a local official said, adding that other shells had
struck elsewhere in the town.
The rebels accused Ukrainian forces of shelling the
separatist stronghold of Donetsk and the town of Horlivka, where they said on
their website that three children had been killed. The sound of artillery could
be heard in the outskirts of Donetsk and clouds of black smoke hung over its
suburbs.
The deal, sealed by the leaders of Germany and France on
Friday after 16 hours of all-night talks in Minsk, capital of Belarus, with the
Russian and Ukrainian presidents, was soon overshadowed by the clashes. Fighting
was intense around Debaltseve, a railway junction linking the two main rebel
areas, where separatists used rockets and artillery to attack government forces
holding the town.
The United States and Europe have threatened further
sanctions against Moscow if the rebels seize more territory.
DISAGREEMENTS
Ukraine's pro-Western president said he was not naive and
wanted to make clear the country was a long way from peace. Away from the
battlefield, disagreements surfaced over whether a rebel amnesty or the release
of a Ukrainian pilot detained by Russia were part of the ceasefire
deal.
Western diplomats said the European Union would go ahead on
Monday with already planned sanctions against 19 Ukrainian separatists and
Russians, despite the ceasefire. NATO and the United States said the fighting
ran counter to the spirit, if not the letter of the agreement and U.S.
officials said further sanctions were still on the table.
Ukraine, for its part, said it had not agreed to an amnesty for
all rebels, drawing an angry response from the separatists. Sanctions by the EU
and United States have piled intense economic pressure on Russia'seconomy,
which has also been hit by a collapse in oil prices.
VAST "BUFFER
ZONE"
On Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel described the
agreement with Russia on Ukraine as a good start but said
undertakings must now be respected. Ukraine reported a new, mass influx of
Russian armour into rebel-held eastern Ukraine as the agreement was
being finalised. The deal calls for the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the
front line when and if the ceasefire has taken hold, and constitutional reform
to give eastern Ukraine more autonomy.
The rebels have advanced far past an earlier ceasefire deal,
agreed in September, and the new agreement appears to envisage them pulling
their guns back around 75 km, to take them back behind it, while Ukrainian guns
would move 25 km back.
The White House, under pressure from Congress to provide
arms to the stretched Ukrainian military, said the deal was "potentially
significant" but urged Russia to withdraw soldiers and
equipment, and give Ukraine back control over its border. Russia denies
arming the rebels and sending troops to fight alongside them, despite what Ukraine and
its Western allies say is overwhelming evidence.
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