Credit: Pierre Crom / Contributor
Caption:DONETSK, UKRAINE - FEBRUARY 25: The Novorossiya (new Russia) flag, a symbol regularly used by the 'Donetsk People's Republic', painted onto the side of an amoured vehicle in a factory compound where pro-Russian rebels of the Separate Repair and Refurbishment Battalion repair seized Ukrainian military vehicles and artillery on February 25, 2015 in Donestk, Ukraine. Although fighting has eased and some heavy weaponry moved from the front line following the Minsk ceasefire agreement, the Ukranian government hold concerns that pro-Russian rebels will turn their attentions in the direction of Mariupol. (Photo by Pierre Crom/Getty Images)
Weeks after signing a ceasefire by Ukraine troops and Russian-backed rebels, artillery fire and fighting has left the region a warzone, even after a truce was acknowledged by all parties. The presence of heavy weapons supplied by Russia to the separatists has questioned Russia's aggressive policies in Ukraine. Tensions rise as the US and EU states make an attempt to curtail Russia through extended sanctions.
During his visit with the Foreign Minister of UK, Philip Hammond, Secretary of State John Kerry said the US is considering serious sanctions against Russia after Russian involvement and aggression in the eastern Ukraine conflict during a ceasefire inked more than a week ago.
A Kremlin spokesman commented on upcoming US sanctions saying, these measures would not solve the Ukraine crisis. However, signs of Russia's influence in Ukraine emerged as Debaltseve was seized by rebels and Ukranian troops surrendered under humiliating circumstances. At this point, Ukraine's leader Petro Poroshenko asked the UN to implement peacekeeping in the country.
According to Poroshenko, Russia had sent 9,000 troops and 500 tanks into Ukraine before the Minsk treaty. Heavy weapons used by the Russian-backed rebels are still believed to be Russian.
“The solution is very simple – stop supplying weapons ... withdraw the troops and close the border,” said Poroshenko. “If you want to discuss something different, it means you are not for peace, you are for war.”
President Putin was forewarned after "engaging in an absolutely brazen ...way over these last days," Secretary Kerry said. President Obama reportedly spoke to Putin on the phone, discussing the implications of Russian intervention in Ukraine.
Kerry was referring to the presence of Russian heavy weapons in Ukraine and the siege of key towns like Debaltseve by the separatists backed by Russia. "If this failure continues, make no mistake, there will be further consequences including consequences that will place added strains on Russia's already troubled economy.”
Sec. Kerry continued to say in a press release, “We know to a certainty what Russia has been providing to the separatists, how Russia is involved with the separatists, and the ways in which Russia has cynically been willing to go to – even lead an effort at the UN, even simultaneously as it is continuing to do land grabbing in Ukraine. And what is happening with respect to Mariupol even now is just simply unacceptable.”
UK's foreign minister, Philip Hammond said in a briefing ahead of a meeting with Secretary of State in London, "we face in Ukraine from Russia’s continued aggression, the unacceptable way in which the cease-fire agreement that was signed just 10 days ago has been so systematically breached."
