Clashes in eastern Ukraine make longer ceasefire unlikely

Fighting continued in eastern Ukraine last night, undermining calls for a supposed ceasefire between government forces and pro-Russian rebels to be extended beyond today.

Ukraine’s national guard said militants attacked a base in the major eastern city of Donetsk, even as Ukrainian, Russian, EU and US officials claimed to be seeking ways to de-escalate the bloody crisis.

Other clashes were reported around Donetsk and Luhansk regions, prompting Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko to warn the rebels that he may call an end to the ceasefire today.

He said the militants, who want eastern Ukraine to join Russia, had asked for talks today – apparently a resumption of negotiations earlier this week that included Moscow's envoy to Kiev and former Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma.

Decision time

“It is a very important day: if our terms for the peace plan are not accepted, then we will take a very important decision,” Mr Poroshenko said.

Last Friday, he ordered a week-long ceasefire of government forces to give the militants time to surrender, and for Russian "mercenaries" to leave Ukraine. He pledged that rebels who had not committed serious crimes would not be prosecuted.

The separatists subsequently called their own ceasefire, but each side has accused the other of breaking the truce, and the insurgents shot down a military helicopter, killing all nine servicemen onboard.

"It is clear that this peace plan can work only with the support of Russia," Mr Poroshenko told the Council of Europe in Strasbourg yesterday. "Unfortunately, the support of the Russian Federation is completely inadequate. Instead of them calling back their mercenaries, even more new, well-equipped and motivated fighters are arriving from the Russian Federation."

Moscow denies helping the rebels, but the EU and US have also repeatedly urged it to do more to help stabilise Ukraine – which is poised to formalise a tilt to the West today when it signs a landmark trade deal with Brussels.

After meeting officials in Paris, US secretary of state John Kerry said yesterday Russia had “hours, literally . . . to help disarm the rebels”. Later, a state department spokeswoman said Mr Kerry was not “outlining specific timing for additional sanctions but underscoring the need that this needs to happen quickly”.

Mr Poroshenko’s office yesterday unveiled plans to decentralise power in Ukraine and guarantee the right of regions to use languages including Russian. But he stopped short of proposing the federal state structure advocated by Russia.