Lavrov says Ukraine must agree with rebels if it wants control over its border with Russia in separatist-held areas.
From a live broadcast:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accuses Ukrainian government forces of seeking to make gains on the ground against pro-Russian rebels in order to improve Kyiv's position at peace talks on February 11.
From the folks at Jane's on "Russian TOS-1 and Pantsyr-S1 systems reported in east Ukraine":
If accurate, the reports provide further indication that Russia is becoming less and less concerned with disguising its activities in east Ukraine, because Russia is the only logical source for these systems. Indeed, given the specialist roles of the equipment, it is not unreasonable to believe that the systems are being operated by Russian personnel.
Both systems are among the most modern in Russia's inventories, and neither is in Ukrainian service. Neither system has been particularly widely exported, with none of those customers a likely potential source for the systems. The TOS-1 has only been exported in limited numbers to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Iraq. Meanwhile, the Pantsyr has only been exported to the Middle East, with orders from Algeria, Iraq, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates.
Today's situation map from Ukrainian military authorities, which probably looks a bit different from the map that will be parsed over today in Minsk:
An image from Donetsk, where a shell struck a bus station and killed at least one person (confirmed), perhaps more.
Agencies quote the Kremlin confirming that Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend talks with the leaders of Ukraine, France, and Germany today in Minsk, Belarus.
Particularly interesting given that Kazakhstan's president -- possibly out of sensitivity to the large number of ethnic Russians in his country -- is generally regarded as having steered clear of attacks on the West since Russia invaded and annexed Crimea from Ukraine.
Nazarbaev Calls U.S. And EU Sanctions On Russia 'Barbaric'
