Ukraine crisis: Army and rebels stall heavy arms pullout

by Maria Ogryzlo and Biodun Iginla, BBC News

22 minutes ago


The two sides were given until two days after the latest truce came into effect to start the pullout.
The government said it would not pull back until fighting ended in the beleaguered town of Debaltseve.
The leaders of Germany, Ukraine and Russia discussed the crisis in an overnight phone call.
Germany said on Tuesday they had agreed "concrete measures" for observers to have greater access, but gave no details.
Observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), who are charged with monitoring the ceasefire, have been trying to reach Debaltseve after being denied access by the rebels on Sunday.
"The German chancellor and Ukrainian president called on the Russian president to exercise his influence on the separatists to enforce the ceasefire," German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said.

The withdrawal of heavy weapons was due to start no later than the second day after the truce came into effect

"Further, the withdrawal of heavy weapons should be started on Tuesday, as agreed in Minsk."
The ceasefire which came into effect on Sunday has been broadly observed, however separatists insist that the agreement does not apply in Debaltseve - a key transport hub - because they have the town surrounded.
Artillery strikes were reported overnight and on Tuesday morning around Debaltseve. Ukrainian military spokesman Anatoliy Stelmakh said separatists had continued to attack government positions.
Rebels have offered Ukrainian troops encircled there a safe corridor to leave.

Officials say more than 5,400 people have been killed since the conflict erupted in eastern Ukraine in April

Senior rebel leader Denis Pushilin described Debaltseve as "internal territory" and said fighting for it was "a moral thing".
"We do not have the right (to stop fighting)," he told Reuters.
Another rebel leader, Andrei Purgin, said separatists planned to discuss the possible withdrawal of weapons later on Tuesday with representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.

'Not an indicator'

Under the ceasefire agreed in the Belarus capital Minsk last week, the withdrawal of heavy weapons from front line areas was due to start no later than the second day after the truce came into effect and be completed within two weeks.
The withdrawal would create buffer zones 50-140km (30-85 miles) wide.
But both sides says they will not withdraw heavy weapons until they see movement from the other side.

Ukraine conflict

The human cost

5,486

people killed since conflict began in April 2014

• 12,972 wounded across eastern Ukraine
  
• 5.2 million people estimated to be living in conflict areas
  
• 978,482 internally displaced people within Ukraine, including 119,832 children
  

United Nations report, 6 February Note: UN Human Rights Mission in Ukraine and the WHO believe actual death toll is considerably higher.

AP

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande have previously called for the OSCE to be granted free access to eastern Ukraine.
"The situation is fragile," Mrs Merkel said. "It was always clear that much remains to be done. And I have always said that there are no guarantees that what we are trying to do succeeds. It will be an extremely difficult path."
US state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the US was "gravely concerned by the deteriorating situation in and around Debaltseve" and called on "Russia and the separatists it backs to halt all attacks immediately".
Reuters reporters near Debaltseve said on Monday that at least six tanks as well as armoured personnel carriers and artillery were present in woods 10km (six miles) west of Debaltseve near Vuhlehirsk, which the rebels seized a week ago.
Meanwhile, further EU sanctions against Russia have gone into effect.
The new sanctions list targets 19 officials - most of them in the pro-Russian separatist strongholds of Donetsk and Luhansk, but also two Russian deputy defence ministers and a Russian celebrity singer and MP, Iosif Kobzon.
Officials say more than 5,400 people have been killed since the conflict erupted in eastern Ukraine in April, but the UN believes the actual death toll to be much higher.

Minsk agreement: Key points

• Ceasefire to begin at 00:01 local time on 15 February (22:01 GMT 14 February)
• Heavy weapons to be withdrawn, beginning on 16 February and completed in two weeks - beyond a buffer zone behind the current front line for Ukrainian forces and behind the September front line for separatist forces
• All prisoners to be released; amnesty for those involved in fighting
• Withdrawal of all foreign troops and weapons from Ukrainian territory. Disarmament of all illegal groups
• Ukraine to allow resumption of normal life in rebel areas, by lifting restrictions
• Constitutional reform to enable decentralisation for rebel regions by the end of 2015
• Ukraine to control border with Russia if conditions met by the end of 2015

Ukraine 'pits Russia against West'