From RFE/RL's News Desk:
The Ukrainian military says it will not start withdrawing heavy weapons from the front line in the conflict with Russian-backed separatists because the rebels have not completely ceased fire.
Under an agreement brokered by the leaders of Germany and France, government forces and rebels were to cease fire on February 15 and begin pulling back heavy weapons no less than two days later, creating a security zone at least 70 kilometers wide.
Ukrainian military spokesman Anatoly Stelmakh said on February 23 that while hostilities have lessened in recent days after separatist forces took the strategic town of Debaltseve, rebels shelled government troops twice overnight.
Another spokesman, Vladyslav Seleznyov, said in a televised briefing that because "the positions of Ukrainian servicemen continue to be shelled, there cannot yet be any talk of pulling back weapons."
Stelmakh said Ukraine would begin the withdrawal when "the enemy stops firing on our positions."
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
European Council President Donald Tusk has said he will initiate consultations with European Union leaders on the possibilty of expanding sanctions against Russia for its policies in Ukraine.
Tusk made the comments on February 22 in Kyiv after viewing an exhibition of Russian military equipment captured by Ukrainian security forces during fighting with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Tusk said he will begin the consultations on February 23.
Tusk participated in a Dignity March to mark the first anniversary of the ouster of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych together with the presidents of Germany, Lithuania, Moldova, and Poland.
The EU expanded its blacklist of Russian and Ukrainian individuals and entities under sanction on February 16, adding two Russian deputy defense ministers, two State Duma deputies, and 15 separatist leaders.
By RFE/RL
Officials in Ukraine say they have detained four Ukrainian citizens in connection with an explosion in the eastern city of Kharkiv that killed two people and wounded 11 others.
Police say the people killed in the February 22 explosion were a police officer and a civilian. Four of the wounded were also police officers.
Oleksandr Turchynov, head of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said a "counterterrorism operation" has been launched in Kharkiv in response to the incident.
The bomb struck a peace march that was being held to mark the first anniversary of the ouster of former President Viktor Yanukovych.
An official with Ukraine's SBU state security service was quoted as saying the four people who were detained "underwent instruction and received weapons" in the Russian city of Belgorod.
Kyiv and its Western allies have repeatedly accused Moscow of direct aid to separatist fighters, including through the supply of weapons, soldiers, instruction, and other equipment.
A Kharkiv prosecutor was quoted by Interfax as saying the bomb was filled with shrapnel.
Read more here.