Irredentism

Social PASOK party lashed out at the government on Monday for refusing to bring the extension of a loan agreement with eurozone partners-cum creditors to Parliament for debate and ratification.

Ukraine is resolved on pursuing its demand for a deployment of a peacekeeping mission in Donbas. It will most probably be followed by a police mission of the European Union.

The announcement was made by Ukraine's Foreign Minsister Pavel Klimkin in an interview with local TV station, as reported by Tass information agency.

EU extends "black list" of Russians

BRUSSELS, MOSCOW -- The European Union has extended its sanctions against Russian citizens, so that its "black list" now contains 151 names.

19 names have been added to the list, including deputy defense ministers Anatoly Antonov and Arkady Bakin, and Head of the Directorate of Operations General Andrei Kartapolov.

U.S. senator: Ceasefire won't last one week

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senator John McCain has said that the Ukraine ceasefire agreement from Minsk was "unenforceable and will not last a week."

"It sounds to me like it's unenforceable. It's a bandaid and my predictions to you, it will not last a week," McCain said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the ceasefire in Ukraine was set to begin at midnight on February 15. The deal was announced after 17-hour negotiations among representatives of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine in Minsk, Belarus.

Leaders of the so-called Normandy group - France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine - gathered in Minsk on Wednesday to try to strike a peace deal for eastern Ukraine.

The US government has announced that military training will be provided to 600 Ukrainian national guards in March.

The new development was revealed a day after US President Obama announced his support for the diplomatic solution to the conflict in Ukraine. 

Hospital comes under fire in Donetsk

DONETSK -- A hospital in the town of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine has come under artillery fire, with at least 15 people feared killed in the attack.

This information came from the local authorities in the pro-Russian forces stronghold that has been under fire from Ukrainian government forces.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced on Monday that the government had decided to declare a state of emergency in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Yatsenyuk added that the overall alert level across the country was heightened in order to coordinate the activities of the authorities and provide security for the citizens.

Nearly 500 coal miners in Ukraine's war-torn east were briefly trapped underground on Monday after their pit lost power when a shell hit an electricity substation.
      
The incident occurred in rebel-controlled Donetsk city's Zasyadko coal mine -- one of eastern Europe's largest and scene of a similar incident on January 11.