BRUSSELS, Aug. 11 (UPI) — The European Union said Wednesday that escalating attacks on government-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine violate a peace deal with pro-Russia separatists.
“The Minsk Agreements must be implemented in good faith, starting with full observation of the ceasefire and genuine withdrawal of heavy weapons,” the EU said in a statement, BBC News reported.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his Ukrainian counterpart, Pavlo Klimkin, in a phone conversation earlier this week that Kiev authorities must establish “the urgent need for direct dialogue” to resolve the volatile border crisis.
Ukraine said that pro-Russia forces launched a series of attacks in different locations on Monday and Tuesday. Their allies expressed particular concern after the Ukrainian military reported the heaviest rebel artillery attacks in six months near the strategic port city of Mariupol, according to news reports.
Klimkin charged Wednesday that the escalation of hostilities in Donbass area was a planned operation, and an attempt to derail the implementation of the Minsk agreement, Ukraine Today reported.
“The latest examples of escalation of the situation were a deliberate and clearly planned operation both in Shyrokyne and Starohnativka. All these cases are examples of how the Russian side along with Donetsk and Luhansk tries to derail the implementation of the Minsk agreements,” said the foreign minister.
Starohnativka is located about halfway between Donetsk, held by the separatists, and Mariupol, controlled by Kiev.
The Kremlin press service reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin held an “operative meeting” on Wednesday with members of his Security Council. “The meeting… discussed the situation in the wake of more frequent shelling by the Ukrainian forces of populated areas in the Donbass region and OSCE mission representatives,” the Kremlin press office said.
At least 6,700 people have been killed since fighting began last year between Ukrainian and pro-Russian rebels, according to United Nations estimates.
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