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August 29th, 2017 
Awake Goy 
nsnbc : German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron urge Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to help implement the “back-to-school-ceasefire” in eastern Ukraine. The call comes as there have been reported numerous violations of the latest ceasefire agreement.
Merkel and Macron issued a joint statement on Monday saying that despite agreeing in a conference call with Putin and Poroshenko to support a new ceasefire agreement, there are still countless violations including violations with heavy weapons.
Merkel and Macron strongly urged Putin and Poroshenko to “stick to their commitments completely, to support the cease-fire publicly and clearly and to ensure that the necessary instructions are relayed to the military forces on the ground”. A ceasefire agreement was reached in a phone conversations last week, hoping to significantly reduce the number of ceasefire violations and bring calm as the new school year begins. Fighting in Ukraine has killed over 10,000 since 2014.
Separatist fighters in Ukraine’s Donbass region have been accused of 19 attacks on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine over the past day. In the Mariupol direction separatists reportedly used heavy machine guns to fire at positions near Vodiane, some 16 kilometers north-west of Donetsk and Shyrokyne, some 20 kilometers east of Mariupol.
Violations were also reported near Donetsk where separatists reportedly used mortars and grenade launchers to shell Ukrainian military positions in the industrial area of Avdiivka, some 18 kilometers north of Donetsk. There were also reported attacks on troops near the Butovka coal mine, about 11.4 kilometers north-west of Donetsk, on Mayorske, 45 kilometers north of Donetsk, and on Zaitseve, 67km north-north-east of Donetsk. In Lughansk direction, separatists reportedly heavy machine gun and small arms to fire at Ukrainian army positions near Stanytsia Luhanska, some 16km north-east of Lughansk. There haven’t been reported any casualties among regular Ukrainian troops.
Eduard Basurin, vice-commander of the operational command of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), on Monday, said Ukrainian forces launched almost 50 mortar rounds and shells on the territory of the DPR over the past 24 hours. “In the Donetsk direction, the enemy once again, applied heavy artillery, mortars, IFV, AFV, and small arms. Eleven localities’ areas were targeted, with one shell of 152 mm caliber, eight mortar shells of 120 mm caliber, and 37 rounds of 82 mm”, he said.
According to Basurin, in the Mariupol and Gorlovka directions, there were shelled three localities’ areas, which were targeted by the Armed Forces of Ukraine with mortars of 82-mm caliber, having launched three mortar-rounds on the localities, as well as resorted to grenade launchers and small arms.
The back-to-school ceasefire was hoped to calm the situation at the line of contact between Ukraine’s government-controlled areas and the rebelling Donbass Republics a.k.a. Donbass People’s Republic and Lughansk People’s Republic. Actors within Ukraine’s post-2014 oligarchical structures backed primarily by London and Washington on one hand, and oligarchical, Russian-backed oligarchical structures within the predominantly Russian-speaking Donbass region are according to most actually independent and objective observers at the root of what also is a geopolitical standoff.
Other reasons for the continuation of the conflict is Russia’s perceived need to have a buffer zone in an increasingly NATO oriented Ukraine, Kiev’s perceived need to limit Moscow’s influence in the eastern, predominantly Russian-speaking parts of Ukraine, as well as a policy of tensions rather than a Eurasian partnership between Moscow on one and Brussels and Washington on the other.
Another reason for the recurrence of violence, despite ceasefire agreements, is deep distrust between the parties as both sides have breached such agreements in the past. Both sides use accusations and sophisticated propaganda ploys to blame their adversary.
While the government in Kiev is part of the Normandy Four, is also seeks defense support from its perceived allies including the United States. U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis, during his first visit to Ukraine, interpreted this as “a positive sign”. Mattis, who arrived in Kyiv on the evening of August 23, also attended the military parade marking Ukraine’s 26th Independence Day on Aug. 24. “By being here, I’m making a statement that our strategic relationship with Ukraine is getting stronger,” Mattis told journalists.
Mattis did not say explicitly whether he supports the provision of lethal weapons to Ukraine, but noted that having seen the situation with his own eyes he would be able to give his recommendations to the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and U.S. President Donald J. Trump. “I needed to come here to better understand the situation, so that I go back and advocate for what I believe you need, as brought to me by Minister of Defense (Stepan Poltorak) and the (Ukrainian) president,” Mattis said.
Ukrainian President Petro Pooshenko, for his part, stressed the importance of lethal weapons for Ukraine as a deterrent to further Russian aggression. Describing the separatist Donbass republics as “Russian-occupied”, Poroshenko said Ukrainian intelligence estimates that there are at least 3,000 Russian troops currently in the Russian-occupied parts of the Donbas. Russian-led forces, including Russian mercenaries and local collaborators, number some 39,000 soldiers, according to Ukrainian intelligence estimates. The forces have Russian commanders and Russian regular troops among them, Poroshenko said.
It has also been established that 130 Ukrainians are being held as hostages in the Russian-occupied territories in the Donbas, or in Russia, Poroshenko said. He said talks were continuing on the provision of defense support to Ukraine. Poroshenko didn’t mention how many Donbass militants the Ukraine holds captive. There have previously been arranged exchanges of prisoners of war under the Normandy Four format and with involvement of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). “We agreed to continue active dialogue regarding the provision of defense support to Ukraine, not only lethal weapons, but other equipment too,” Poroshenko said.
It was announced that the U.S. government had recently approved the aid of $175 million worth of equipment to the Ukrainian troops, bringing the total value of U.S. help to the country to $750 million over the last two years. Mattis promised continued U.S. pressure on Russia due to its invasion and occupation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, and its fomenting of war in the Donbas. “We do not and will not accept Russia’s seizure of Crimea, and despite Russian denials, we know they are seeking to redraw international borders by force,” General Mattis said. He said that the tougher sanctions imposed earlier in August will remain in place until Moscow reverses its illegal occupation of Ukrainian territories.
CH/L – nsnbc 29.08.2017
Source Article from https://nsnbc.me/2017/08/29/merkel-and-macron-urge-putin-and-poroshenko-to-help-implement-ukrainian-ceasefire/
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