Strong shelling hit both government- and rebel-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine in a continued escalation of the country’s fighting.
Nikki Haley, America’s new envoy, used her first appearance at the UN Security Council to lambaste Moscow’s actions in the region, despite a promise by the US President to fix East-West relations.
At least nine people, including civilians, have been killed in eastern Ukraine as an unpsurge in violence between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russia rebels has raised fears of a humanitarian disaster.
The US Ambassador to the United Nations has condemned what she calls the aggressive actions of Russian Federation.
In her remarks, Haley referred only to the Crimea-related sanctions and not to others that have been implemented in the wake of other aggressive actions by the Kremlin. “Until Russia and the separatists it supports respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity this crisis will continue”.
US President Donald Trump promises his Ukrainian counterpart that he will collaborate with authorities in Russian Federation and Ukraine in an effort to “restore peace” along the two countries’ borders.
“So long as Russia continues to occupy Crimea and destabilize Ukraine, I implore you to maintain current sanctions against Russia”, McCain wrote.
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation chief Jens Stoltenberg did not blame Russian Federation directly but said that Moscow had “considerable influence” over the militia forces now on the attack in east Ukraine. Hopefully, the road will lead to something more constructive than we have seen so far.
Earlier this week, the U.S. State Department said the fighting, which erupted last Sunday at an industrial park outside Avdiivka, had left 17,000 civilians, including 2,500 children, without water, heat or electricity.
The insurgents also said one more of their fighters was killed in the clashes while the Ukrainian army reported two deaths.
“This escalation of violence must stop”, Haley added.
Ukrainian Ambassador Vlodymyr Yelchenko accused Russian Federation of blocking fix work to restore electricity to Avdiivka. However, Moscow has denied the allegations and accused the USA of expanding its geopolitical power along Russia’s borders.
Churkin accused Kiev of igniting fighting to attract global attention and draw support from the new USA administration.
“Of course, I’m really scared”, said Tamara Tokmanova, who said her father had died in the Second World War.
Global monitors on Friday strongly urged the warring sides in eastern Ukraine to silence their guns as heavy artillery and rocket barrages continued to pummel residential areas.
The State Department statement reaffirmed USA backing for the Minsk plans, but that reference only came about after internal interagency discussions in Washington.
