U.S. urges Russia to pressure Ukraine rebels over attacks
PARIS, March 4 (Reuters) -- Russia needs to use its influence on separatists in eastern Ukraine to halt attacks by pro-Russian rebels, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Reuters on Friday.
The Minsk peace deal, reached in the Belarussian capital in February 2015, has stalled as attacks have increased in the east where Ukrainian government forces face off against the rebels.
"What we've seen in the last couple of weeks is an increase in violent attacks along the line of control ... and whether that is being instigated by Russia, or acquiesced to by Russia, doesn't matter," Blinken said in an interview in Paris.
"The Russians have tremendous leverage over the separatists. If they want to turn it (the violence) off they can and indeed they must," he added.
Blinken said implementing the Minsk peace agreement was the only way forward and was in the interest of all sides, including the Russians who are suffering Western sanctions because of their involvement in the Ukrainian conflict.
Talks on Thursday in Paris, including the Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministers, as well as their French and German counterparts, produced no breakthrough, according to the Ukrainian foreign minister.
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
Ukrainian Army Says Two Soldiers Killed By Separatists
The Ukrainian Army says two of its soldiers have been killed in clashes with Russia-backed separatists controlling swathes of eastern Ukraine.
Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said on March 5 that the skirmish took place close to the government-held port of Mariupol when Ukrainian soldiers detected a reconnaissance group of separatists.
Five more Ukrainian soldiers were wounded over the past 24 hours in eastern Ukraine, Lysenko said.
The latest casualties came after a fresh European effort to resolve the nearly two-year conflict collapsed this week, with Russia and Ukraine failing to agree on elections in the separatist regions.
More than 9,000 people have been killed and some 21,000 others injured since the conflict started in April 2014.