Ukrainian military

Russia asks Bosnia to stop sending arms to Ukraine

MOSCOW -- The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has appealed on Bosnia-Herzegovina to stop arms shipments to the Ukrainian military.

The ministry's website said Moscow was reacting to statements that ammunition made in Bosnia was used in the war in Ukraine.

Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels have “agreed in principle” on a ceasefire in the eastern war-torn region of Lugansk, the OSCE has said, as NATO foreign ministers met in Brussels Dec. 2 aiming to plot a new course on the country.

European leaders were set on Sept. 8 to unveil punishing new sanctions on Russia after weekend fighting in Ukraine imperilled a fragile truce aimed at halting a bloody pro-Kremlin uprising.
      
Ukrainian soldiers fortified their positions around Mariupol on Monday after insurgent attacks late Saturday on government positions on the eastern edge of the strategic port city.

Surrounded Ukrainian troops to be allowed to leave

MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on pro-Russian forces in Ukraine to provide a humanitarian corridor for the Ukrainian soldiers they have surrounded.

Leaders of the self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk accepted this initiative - provided that the troops first disarm.

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko on Aug. 24 decried Russian "aggression" as Kiev staged a symbolic Independence Day parade while battling pro-Moscow rebels in the east of the country.
       

Pro-Russian separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine on June 29 released a second group of four monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) who had been seized on May 29.