Eastern Ukraine ceasefire largely holding

Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), who under the terms of the ceasefire agreed in Minsk last week are meant to monitor the ceasefire, were expected to make a second attempt to reach Debaltseve on Monday. OSCE representatives said pro-Russia separatists prevented them from reaching the town on Sunday.

On Sunday, the rebels continued to shell Debaltseve, which is held by government troops but is surrounded by separatist-held territory. The town is also a strategically important railway hub, on a line that links the two main rebel-held towns, Donetsk and Luhansk.

Despite the ongoing bombardment of Debaltseve, the rebels denied breaching the ceasefire, saying it didn't apply there.

"Of course we can open fire (on Debaltseve). It is our territory," senior rebel commander Eduard Basurin told the Reuters news agency. "The territory is internal: ours. And internal is internal. But along the line of confrontation there is no shooting."

A statement released by the office of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, though, stressed that the ceasefire applied to the entire frontline "including the area of Debaltseve."

A Kremlin spokesman said the truce must be implemented "unconditionally" without specifically mentioning Debaltseve.

Security Council resolution pending

Meanwhile, consultations on the text of a draft United Nations Security Council resolution supporting the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine were expected to continue, after Sunday's talks failed to produce an agreement.

Britain and the United States, both veto-wielding permanent members of the Council, are said to have reservations about the draft submitted by fellow permanent member Russia. Malaysia was also said to be seeking an amendment, so that the text would refer to the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine back in July.

Germany, though, has expressed support for a Security Council resolution.

"I would regard a Security Council resolution as helpful," Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said during a visit to Colombia on Sunday. He added that Council members should not get hung up on the text of the draft, and that it was important to show that the international community supported the efforts to make peace in eastern Ukraine.

More than 5,300 people have died and hundreds of thousands have been driven from their homes since the fighting between the pro-Russia separatists and government forces broke out in eastern Ukraine 10 months ago.

pfd/kms (Reuters, AFP, dpa)