Section: The Gulf Today (United Arab Emirates)
Fighting on despite bid to revive truce
ARTEMIVSK: Fighting raged in eastern Ukraine on Thursday despite European efforts to resurrect a still-born ceasefire, a day after pro-Russian separatists who spurned the truce forced thousands of government troops out of a strategic town. Western nations have refused to give up on a peace deal negotiated last week even though rebels disavowed it...
Ukraine accuses rebels of destroying peace hopes
KIEV: Ukraine on Tuesday accused rebels and Russia of destroying a fragile three-day-old ceasefire after insurgents armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades stormed a flashpoint town and engaged thousands of troops there in intense combat. “The hopes of the world for peace are being destroyed,” the deputy head of Ukraine’s...
Breaches threaten shaky Ukraine ceasefire
KIEV: A shaky truce in Ukraine was already at risk on its second day on Monday with both the Kiev government and pro-Russian separatists accusing each other of attacks holding up an agreed pull-back of heavy weapons from the frontline. “There is no question at the moment of us withdrawing heavy weapons” because of persistent rebel attacks, a...
Ukraine ceasefire largely holds
KIEV: Fighting dropped sharply across eastern Ukraine on Sunday but there was still sporadic shelling after a ceasefire came into force, the first step in a fragile peace plan aimed at ending 10 months of conflict. AFP journalists heard occasional artillery fire coming from the direction of the flashpoint town of Debaltseve, where pro-Russian...
Ukraine fighting rages ahead of ceasefire
KIEV: Ferocious fighting raged in Ukraine on Saturday, threatening a ceasefire deal as Kiev and the US accused Russia of fuelling a rebel onslaught to grab territory hours before the truce began. Kiev-loyal regional police chief Vyacheslav Abroskin said constant artillery bombardments were razing the strategic railway hub of Debaltseve, where...
Dozens killed in Ukraine ahead of Minsk peace summit
KIEV: The leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany were to hold peace talks on Wednesday aimed at halting a 10-month war in Ukraine where dozens were killed in the latest fighting. In the run-up to the summit, the climax of a frantic diplomatic push to prevent the worst East-West crisis since the end of the Cold War from escalating, Russia...
Fighting intensifies in eastern Ukraine
SARTANA: Fighting in eastern Ukraine intensified on Tuesday ahead of much-anticipated peace talks, with both sides claiming significant advances and the government accusing the rebels of shelling a town far behind the front lines. The intense fighting, which the UN says has killed more than 5,300 people since April, comes ahead of a crucial...
EU freezes new sanctions ahead of Ukraine peace summit
Brussels: The European Union on Monday put fresh sanctions against Moscow on hold ahead of a summit to thrash out a Ukraine peace plan aimed at ending 10 months of bloodshed. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the EU would hold off implementing new individual sanctions to improve the chances of success at the four-way summit planned for...
12 killed in Ukraine, peace deal unsure
KIEV: Kiev on Saturday accused pro-Russian Ukrainian separatists of massing forces for fresh offensives, with seven civilians and five soldiers killed in the latest fighting in the east. Rebels are “accumulating forces for further offensive operations on Debaltseve and Mariupol,” Ukrainian defence official Volodymyr Polyovyi told journalists. The...
Merkel, Hollande push for Ukraine deal
KIEV: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande arrived in Moscow on Friday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin seen as a bid to avoid an escalation of violence in Ukraine. The French president arrived in Moscow minutes after Merkel’s plane touched down at Vnukovo airport and they headed straight to...
