Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists, in a gesture to shore up a tenuous ceasefire, agreed on Wednesday to strive for an end to all truce violations from next Tuesday, the OSCE and rebel representatives said.
Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists accused each other on Wednesday of attempting to break a six-month-old peace agreement, with a rebel official warning of the threat of "a big war" if the ceasefire crumbles.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called for a halt to fighting around the Ukrainian coastal town of Shyrokyne on Wednesday as NATO backed his demand that Russia fully implement a Ukraine ceasefire agreement.
Macedonia said on Sunday its police had wiped out a group of ethnic Albanian "terrorists" in a day-long gun battle that left at least 22 people dead at a moment of deep political crisis in the former Yugoslav republic.
Russia's military may be taking advantage of a recent lull in fighting in eastern Ukraine to lay the groundwork for a new military offensive, NATO's top commander told the U.S. Congress on Thursday.
A fragile ceasefire between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists came under renewed pressure on Sunday with the Ukrainian military reporting a serviceman had been killed and seven others wounded in rebel attacks.
Ukraine's military accused pro-Russian rebels on Monday of using heavy weapons that were meant to have been withdrawn under a ceasefire deal, after one Ukrainian serviceman was killed and six wounded in rebel-held territories.
Steps to bolster a fragile ceasefire in eastern Ukraine gathered momentum on Friday as support within the European Union for more economic sanctions¨on Russia appeared to wane.
The leaders of Russia, Germany and France agreed to Ukraine's proposal to ask the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to help with the implementation of the ceasefire agreement in eastern Ukraine, officials said after a four-way phone call on Monday evening.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday that Moscow and pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine must implement a ceasefire or face consequences that could hit Russia's economy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told Kiev to let its soldiers surrender to pro-Russian rebels, who spurned a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine and fought their way on Tuesday into the town of Debaltseve, encircling thousands of government troops.
The United States risks provoking a more direct intervention by Russia in the separatist conflict in Ukraine if it sends weapons to Kiev, the head of the OSCE security watchdog said on Sunday.
Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France have decided not to hold a summit on the conflict in Ukraine on Thursday because of a lack of progress in implementing a four-month-old ceasefire agreement.
Serbia's prime minister accused European Union's officials late on Saturday of orchestrating a campaign against the government after a regional news organization published a critical article about the reconstruction of a key coal mine.
Kiev and pro-Russian separatists will exchange hundreds of prisoners soon, an aide to the head of Ukraine's SBU state security service said on Friday, as the military reported a slight increase in rebel attacks.
Ukraine plans a "Day of Silence" on Tuesday to try to rebuild a ceasefire with pro-Russian separatists that has all but disintegrated, but accompanying peace talks -- the first in three months -- look likely to be delayed.
Fresh volleys of artillery fire were heard across many parts of the separatist stronghold of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on Sunday, a Ukrainian government statement said, after Kiev warned again of rebel preparations for a fresh offensive.
Ukrainian government forces have no intention of renouncing a ceasefire in the separatist-held east of the country, a military spokesman said on Thursday.
NATO is concerned about convoys of trucks taking artillery and supplies into east Ukraine from Russia, and wants to see international borders respected, the supreme allied commander said on Tuesday.
East Ukraine's rebel stronghold Donetsk was pummeled on Sunday by the heaviest shelling in a month, and the OSCE said it spotted an armored column of troops without insignia in rebel territory that Kiev said proved Moscow had sent reinforcements.
Pro-Russian separatists will vote to set up a breakaway regional leadership in eastern Ukraine on Sunday aiming to take their war-torn region closer to Russia and defying Kiev and the West as the big guns still boom across the territory.
