Berlin dissatisfied with Ukraine deadlock

Germany criticized continuing violence in eastern Ukraine on Monday, saying a complete ceasefire was a prerequisite to begin withdrawing heavy weapons.

"It is of great concern to the German government that one cannot really speak of a comprehensive ceasefire as yet," German government spokesman Steffen Seibert told journalists in Berlin on Monday.

Russia needed to honor its obligations according to the Minsk peace plan, and it needed to exercise its influence on separatists in Ukraine's east, Seibert said, referring to the peace agreement that Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels signed earlier this month in Minsk.

Seibert also condemned the attack on a memorial march in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, in which at least two people died and dozens others were wounded. Around 100 people participated in the march on Sunday to remember protestors who stormed the Maidan in Kyiv last year.

Doctors visit Ukrainian pilot

Meanwhile, the German Foreign Ministry said two doctors visited Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, who is being held in Moscow and is currently on hunger strike.

Russia accuses Savchenko of compromising the positions of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine's Luhansk, who were killed in an attack by Kyiv's forces. The 33-year-old has been charged with homicide.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schäfer, however, refused to divulge the contents of the conversation, but expressed his misgivings about officials in Russia, who allegedly told the press about the pilot's health.

UK condemns Russia's stance

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron warned Moscow, saying its "illegal" actions had reached "a new level."

"Russia must be in no doubt that any attempts by the separatists to expand their territory - whether towards Mariupol or elsewhere - will be met with further significant EU and US sanctions," UK's prime minister said.

Pro-Russian forces closing in on eastern Ukraine's Mariupol were continuing to attack government troop positions, Kyiv said on Monday, refusing to withdraw arms before shelling stopped.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) deputy head in Ukraine, Alexander Hug, told France 24 television that the ceasefire was not holding "in critical strategic points."

Kyiv, along with Russia and rebel leaders, had agreed to enforce a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine starting February 15, following peace talks in Minsk that were spearheaded by France and Germany.

The Minsk agreement aims to end 10 months of violence that have killed more than 5,600 people.

mg/gsw (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)