US tells Russia to halt Ukraine violence

The United States is calling on Russia to “immediately” observe the ceasefire in Ukraine, accusing combined Russian and separatist forces of targeting international monitors.

“We call on Russia and the separatist forces it backs to immediately observe the ceasefire, withdraw all heavy weapons, and allow full and unfettered access to the OSCE monitors,” the State Department says.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner says the United States is closely monitoring growing violence in eastern Ukraine and the failure of the combined Russian and separatist forces to abide by a ceasefire agreed to two years ago in Minsk.

“We condemn Friday’s targeting of OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) monitors and the seizure of a SMM unmanned aerial vehicle by combined-Russian separatist forces,” Toner says, referring to the civilian observers with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

— AFP