"[...T]he United Nations Security Council’s three Western permanent members (France, UK, and the US), along with Germany and the European Union, need to appoint a single senior envoy to engage continuously and quietly with Ukraine, NATO and Putin. The current “Normandy format” (Russia, Ukraine, Germany, and France) clearly is not enough."
More from The Power Vertical on the jitters that Moscow's actions in Ukraine have prompted among Russia's neighbors.
The latest situation map from Ukrainian military authorities.
A very good video report from our colleagues at Current Time.
The town of Debaltseve, in eastern Ukraine, fell to a Russian-backed separatist assault shortly after the Minsk cease-fire agreements were signed in February. A fraction of the pre-conflict civilian population now lives there. Those who remained have experienced looting, buried bodies being dug up, and bread queues herded by gunmen.
OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine spokesman Michael Bociurkiw speaking today to BBC from Kyiv about an increase of cease-fire violations in eastern Ukraine.
"In our latest daily report we are using language, which, frankly, we have not used for quite some time -- words like 'a massive increase in cease-fire violations,' intensive fighting in and around Donetsk airport and [the village of] Shyrokyne.' I can tell you that over a six hour period alone yesterday [April 14] there were over 700 explosions in and around Donetsk airport that our monitors heard."
"Both sides are in such close proximity -- I mean, in Shirokino they are only a few hundred meters apart -- [that what happens is that if] one side fires, it provokes return fire from the other side. And what often happens is the return fire coming from densely populated residential areas."
"[OSCE] chief of [Special Monitoring] Mission, Ambassador [Ertugrul] Apakan is again calling for an immediate cease-fire, a comprehensive cease-fire, and most importantly, of course, is the withdrawal of heavy weaponry. I can tell you that yesterday [April 14] -- today we'll be reporting that -- we've seen yet again -- yet again -- movement of heavy weaponry that should have been completely removed from the zone in which it's being used."
...On the "weaponization of information."