Violence shatters Easter truce
Pro-Kremlin rebels in east Ukraine yesterday appealed for Russian "peacekeepers" to sweep in after a deadly gunfight killed at least two of their militants, shattering an Easter truce and sparking "outrage" in Moscow.
But the Western-backed authorities in Kiev claimed the violence was a set-up by Russia to create a pretext for it to send troops in.
The attack, near the flashpoint town of Slavyansk, undermined an accord worked out in Geneva between Russia, Ukraine and Western powers on Thursday that demanded "illegal armed groups" surrender their weapons and cease occupations of public buildings.
The deal was aimed at easing what has become the worst crisis between Washington and Moscow since the end of the Cold War, but now appears to have stalled.
Russia has tens of thousands of troops massed on Ukraine's border in what NATO says is a state of readiness to invade, while the United States, according to The Washington Post, is preparing to send ground troops to neighbouring Poland.
The identity of the assailants, who escaped before militant reinforcements arrived, was not known.
The leader of the separatist rebels in Slavyansk, Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, said he believed two of the attackers were also killed.
He declared a midnight-to-6:00am curfew in Slavyansk -- and appealed for Russian President Vladimir Putin to send in Russian troops as "peacekeepers to defend the population against the fascists".
Putin has said he "very much hopes" he will not have to send his forces into Ukraine, but he insists he has a "right" to do so.
Russia's foreign ministry yesterday declared its "outrage" at the deadly attack, blaming the deaths of "innocent civilians" on ultra-nationalists who were at the vanguard of the street protests that forced the February ouster of Ukraine's pro-Kremlin president Viktor Yanukovych.
The ministry said locals had found the attackers' cars containing weapons, satellite maps and business cards belonging to the ultra-nationalist group Right Sector. It demanded Kiev abide by the Geneva accord.
But a Right Sector spokesman told AFP that Russia's claims were "lies" and "propaganda" designed to portray the east as ungovernable for Kiev.
Ukraine's government, confirming three people were killed, described the latest violence as a "cynical provocation" by Russian-armed separatists.
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said he was heading to the east to inspect troops in the region.
Western-backed authorities in Kiev had announced they were suspending military operations to oust the rebels over Easter, which ends today, but the gunfight ended days of relative calm.
With pro-Kremlin rebels refusing to comply with its terms, Washington has been ratcheting up pressure on Moscow, which it sees as pulling the strings in the Ukrainian insurgency.
US President Barack Obama has threatened to impose more sanctions on Moscow if no progress was made on the ground.
He also is preparing to send ground troops to Ukraine's neighbour Poland, to expand Nato's presence in eastern Europe, according to a report in The Washington Post newspaper.
Amid of the Cold War-style tensions, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is tasked with monitoring the Geneva accord, said it was sending a high-ranking team to east Ukraine.
Russia refuses to recognise the authority of Kiev's pro-Western government.
In comments broadcasted on US television yesterday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk lashed out at Putin for having a "dream to restore the Soviet Union".
Washington has warned Moscow that Ukraine is in a "pivotal period" and that progress was needed on the Geneva accord "within days".
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