UN calls for calm in Ukraine

AT LEAST 28 DEAD IN LATEST FLARE-UP

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations on Friday urged Ukraine’s warring parties to respect their increasingly shaky ceasefire, as they accused each other of jeopardising the truce.

Speaking as the European Union prepared to strengthen its sanctions on Russia for its role in the conflict, UN political chief Jeffrey Feltman warned the Security Council meeting that the truce was in danger.

“We are either looking at a return to a deepening intractable conflict or a momentary upsurge in parts of the conflict zone. We cannot afford either scenario,” he said.

The latest flareup in east Ukraine has left at least 28 dead and sparked fears the escalation will derail the cease fire brokered by France and Germany four months ago.

EU leaders are set to extend sanctions against Russia this month over its involvement in the Ukraine fighting, diplomats said on Friday.

The economic sanctions, which Russia’s banking and oil sectors, will be extended for six months. They were first imposed after the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over rebel-held areas in 2014, killing 298 people.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military accused pro-Moscow rebels of targeting its positions around Donetsk, while separatists said Kiev’s forces had used Grad rockets against them.

Ukrainian army spokesman Andriy Lysenko said rebel tanks and artillery were “firing virtually without a pause at our positions”.

Mr Lysenko said four Ukrainian soldiers had been wounded over the past 24 hours, while separatist commander Eduard Basurin said one rebel had been killed and four wounded. One child was killed and three adults were wounded during the shelling of the village of Telmanove late on Thursday, Mr Basurin added.

At the Security Council meeting in New York, the UN official declared: “The ceasefire must be fully respected and the protection of civilians a priority.”

President Petro Poroshenko has warned of a full-blown Russian invasion in the east of the country.