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Ukraine Fighting Continues as Talks Stall | Ukraine Fighting Continues as Talks Stall |
(about 3 hours later) | |
ARTEMIVSK, Ukraine — Envoys representing Ukraine, Russia and a European monitoring group opened a new round of cease-fire talks on Saturday aimed at ending a two-week-old flare-up in violence in the Ukraine war. | |
The talks have been halting. Plans to start on Friday fell through when no senior officials showed up in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where the negotiations are being held. | The talks have been halting. Plans to start on Friday fell through when no senior officials showed up in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where the negotiations are being held. |
It was unclear how much could be done to tamp down violence and head off new sanctions; although a Russian envoy arrived for the talks, Russian-backed separatist leaders did not. | It was unclear how much could be done to tamp down violence and head off new sanctions; although a Russian envoy arrived for the talks, Russian-backed separatist leaders did not. |
Russia insists that it does not formally represent the separatists in eastern Ukraine, although Western governments have imposed economic sanctions on Russia for backing them. | Russia insists that it does not formally represent the separatists in eastern Ukraine, although Western governments have imposed economic sanctions on Russia for backing them. |
Denis Pushilin, a negotiator for separatists in one rebellious region, Donetsk, said the leaders of the self-proclaimed republics there and in Luhansk, another rebel-controlled region, would not engage in cease-fire talks unless Ukraine declared a truce first. The breakaway leaders, he told the news agency Interfax, would otherwise need to remain focused on fighting the war and protecting civilians. | |
“Firing by Ukrainian government troops has to stop because our leaders are fully involved in repelling attacks,” Mr. Pushilin said. | |
The top Ukrainian, Russian and European envoys — former President Leonid D. Kuchma of Ukraine; Russia’s ambassador to Ukraine, Mikhail Y. Zurabov; and a representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Heidi Tagliavini — met Saturday. | The top Ukrainian, Russian and European envoys — former President Leonid D. Kuchma of Ukraine; Russia’s ambassador to Ukraine, Mikhail Y. Zurabov; and a representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Heidi Tagliavini — met Saturday. |
In a statement issued late Saturday, Mr. Kuchma demanded that the pro-Russian side comply with the previously agreed upon truce and stop trying to impose new demands. “The Ukrainian side does not accept any ultimatums or preliminary conditions,” Mr. Kuchma said. | |
In Ukraine, the fighting has grown worse by the day. | In Ukraine, the fighting has grown worse by the day. |
Artillery shells exploded in Debaltseve, the Ukrainian-held town south of here that is surrounded on three sides by separatist forces and resupplied by only a tenuous, 31-mile-long road. Shelling in Debaltseve killed 12 civilians on Saturday, the police said. The day before, shells killed 14 people in Donetsk. |