War in Donbass

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.
      

Dacic: OSCE committed to work on solving crisis in Ukraine

Dacic speaks before Helsinki Commission of the U.S. Congress

WASHINGTON -- The ceasefire agreement between the pro-Russian forces and the Ukrainian side is observed for the most part, Ivica Dacic has said.

WASHINGTON - The ceasefire agreement between the pro-Russian forces in the Donets Basin, eastern Ukraine, and the Ukrainian side is being followed for the most part, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbia's Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic has said, according to TASS.

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.
      

A long-awaited ceasefire seems to have taken hold at last in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday.

The Ukrainian military reported it suffered no combat casualties in the past 24 hours - for the first time in several weeks. Only one soldier had been injured.

Britain will send military personnel to Ukraine over the course of next month to help advise and train Ukrainian government forces, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Tuesday.

BELGRADE - Cooperation between the OSCE and the UN, situation in Ukraine and the OSCE's role in solving that crisis were the topics of a meeting between OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbia's Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Foreign ministers from Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany were meeting in Paris on Feb. 24 in a bid to salvage a ceasefire deal which has failed to halt fighting in eastern Ukraine.
      
The meeting comes as pro-Russian separatists kept up their attacks on the key port town of Mariupol and Kiev accused Moscow of torpedoing the deal.
      

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."