Minsk Protocol

 EU leaders agreed on March 19 to effectively extend economic sanctions against Russia until the end of 2015, tying them to full implementation of the Minsk ceasefire accords in Ukraine.
      
The sanctions were imposed after the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over rebel-held eastern Ukraine in July 2014, and were due to expire after a year.
      

"Tens of thousands of Russian troops are in Ukraine"

BERLIN -- Petro Poroshenko, who is in Berlin for a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, has said that the Minsk agreement is "not working."

EU leaders and US President Barack Obama expressed readiness on Tuesday to extend the sanctions against Russia in case the Minsk ceasefire is further violated.

This happened at a video conference between Obama and the leaders of Germany, France, UK, Italy and European Council President Donald Tusk, EurActiv reports.

The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in Ukraine plans to complete on Sunday the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line as required by the latest Minsk agreement, ITAR-TASS reported.

"Today we are finalising the withdrawal," Eduard Basurin, a representative of DPR's  defence ministry told the news agency.

VIENNA - Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Serbia's Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, welcomed the latest progress made in the implementation of Minsk agreements Friday, observing that the situation in Ukraine had entered a phase of de-escalation of conflicts.

The leader of the Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko said that 90% of its forces have been retreated from the contact line with Ukraine on Thursday.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned Feb. 26 that any attempt to expand territory held by separatists in Ukraine would be "unacceptable" and told Russia to withdraw 1,000 items of military equipment from its neighbour's territory.
      

Russia on Feb. 26 called Western threats of fresh sanctions against Moscow evidence that Washington and Brussels are not interested in the success of a troubled truce in Ukraine.
      

The foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany met in the so-called "Normandy format" on Tuesday, calling for the reinforcement of the OSCE monitoring mission to Ukraine.

The foreign ministers also called for respect of the ceasefire agreement, that had been agreed by the leaders of the Normandy group earlier in February in Minsk, EurActiv reports.

Fighting reported near port of Mariupol

KIEV -- Fighting has continued between pro-Russian and Ukrainian army forces near the port of Mariupol on Tuesday.

It is increasingly feared that Mariupol will be the rebels' next target.

The Ukrainian media are saying that there was also shooting in the Debaltsevo and Donetsk areas, breaking "the relative ceasefire."