The European Union called on Russia to reduce its escalation of attacks, substantially withdrawing military forces that are on the border with Ukraine and highlighted the “increase in ceasefire violations” along the line of contact in eastern Ukraine in recent days.
“The EU condemns the use of heavy weapons and indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas, which constitute a clear violation of the Minsk agreements and international humanitarian law,” the statement reads.
The statement praised Ukraine’s “containment stance in the face of continued provocations and destabilization efforts” and expressed concern about “staged events” that the EU said could be used as a “pretext for a possible military escalation”.
The move comes after Ukrainian officials raised concerns about “provocations” expected in breakaway regions in the east of the country, saying they expected Russia to be involved in operations in the region.
Last Friday, Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk claimed that Ukrainian forces would launch an offensive against them – something Danilov called “completely false”.
Danilov spoke shortly after an explosion in Donetsk destroyed a vehicle near the local government headquarters. The cause of the explosion has not been clarified.
“There is a great danger that the representatives of Russia who are there will provoke certain things. They can do things that have nothing to do with our military,” he explained.
“We cannot say what exactly they are going to do, whether they are going to blow up buses with people who must be evacuated to the Rostov region or blow up houses, we don’t know,” he justified, without providing any evidence of the aforementioned plans.
Also on Friday, the German and French foreign ministers said they saw “no basis” for the Donetsk claim, warning that “staged incidents could be misused as a pretext for a possible military escalation”.
The organization also said it was witnessing intensified “information manipulation efforts” and expressed support for the Organization for Security and Cooperation’s Special Monitoring Mission in Europe, calling for the mission to be allowed to carry out its mandate without any restrictions. “The EU sees no reason for allegations coming from the non-government-controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of a possible Ukrainian attack,” he said.
The separatist-controlled areas in the Donbas region of Ukraine are known as the Luhansk People’s Republic and the Donetsk People’s Republic. The Ukrainian government in Kiev claims that the two regions are, in fact, occupied by the Russians.
Self-declared republics are not recognized by any government, including Russia. The Ukrainian government refuses to speak directly to any of the breakaway republics.
Source: CNN Brasil
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