Fresh fighting between Ukraine's military and Russia-backed separatists killed at least five people in the region of Donetsk, officials said Tuesday. Officials at the rebel-run Donetsk city hall also said at least 13 people were wounded in the fierce outbreak of shelling over the previous 24 hours. Fighting has raged in the self-declared separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, especially around the Ukrainian-controlled town of Debaltseve, since peace talks in Belarus between Ukraine's government and the separatists collapsed Saturday. There are fears the violence could soon escalate. On Monday, a pro-Russian separatist leader announced a "general mobilization" with the aim of bolstering separatist armed forces to as many as 100,000 fighters. Meanwhile, the United States says it has not made a decision on whether to provide Ukraine with lethal military assistance in its fight against the separatists. Spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters at the State Department's daily briefing that no options have been taken "on or off the table" and there is an "ongoing discussion," but that no decisions have been made. The New York Times reported Sunday that while President Barack Obama has not made a decision about supplying lethal aid to Ukraine's security forces, his administration is taking a "fresh look" at the question of military aid. The newspaper quoted unidentified U.S. officials as saying Secretary of State John Kerry, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey and Susan Rice, Obama's national security adviser, were all open to new discussions about providing lethal assistance to Ukrainian forces. It also reported that an independent report being released Monday by eight former senior American officials, urging the United States to send $3 billion in defensive arms and equipment to Ukraine, is "fueling the broader debate" in Washington. The Ukraine conflict has killed more than 5,100 people since it erupted last April following Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. Ukrainian authorities said Monday five soldiers had been killed in eastern Ukraine over the past day, while municipal authorities in Donetsk said 15 civilians had been killed there in the past few days. The cease-fire agreement reached last September, which had been repeatedly violated, collapsed completely last week when rebels announced the start of a new offensive designed to expand their territory. U.S. Secretary of State Kerry will travel to Kyiv on Thursday to meet with President Petro Poroshenko and other top Ukrainian officials.
from Voice of America http://ift.tt/1zCbPQ0
from Voice of America http://ift.tt/1zCbPQ0
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