Uneasy ceasefire in Ukraine sees fresh violence

There was fresh shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on Sunday, the one-month anniversary of the ceasefire between Ukrainian forces and the pro-Russian rebels.

"There is no ceasefire," a resident of the city said, gesturing to the firefight and destruction in the distance.

Ukraine's military blames the separatists for the outbreak of violence near Donetsk's government-held airport, where at least three civilians and three separatists were killed and dozens were wounded, according to senior rebel official Eduard Basulin.

Ukrainian military spokesman Volodymyr Polyovy gave a different account, telling a press conference that two service staff were killed on Sunday and about six people were wounded. "The terrorists are violating the terms of the ceasefire," he added.

Clashes around the airport have been going on for weeks, as the facility, which has a modernized runway capable of handling heavy transporters, is of great strategic value. And while the separatists have been able to take several other important buildings in Donetsk, the airport remains in Kyiv's hands.

Both sides blame each other for the civilian deaths.

"The airport is a springboard for the city…our main task is to push them (government forces) away from the city so that they can no longer shell residential districts," Basulin said.

Clinging to a fragile truce

Despite the ongoing violence, neither Kyiv nor Moscow seems willing to proclaim the truce invalid.

Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have come together to create a monitoring contact group, which together with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) patrols the frontline. Berlin has also considered sending troops to support the patrols.

The Ukrainian government has a large interest in maintaining some form of peace ahead of October 26 parliamentary polls called by President Petro Poroshenko. Europe, for its part, would also rather maintain the status quo as opposed to widening its impasse with Russia and its gas supplies as winter approaches.

NATO secretary general optimistic

There is great interest into how newly-minted NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will approach the issue. Speaking on his first day in office on Wednesday, Stoltenberg told journalists that he saw no contradiction between his pro-US, stronger-NATO stance and improved ties with Russia.

"We see opportunity in the ceasefire…but we also see violations of the ceasefire and it's a fragile situation," the former Norwegian prime minister said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin cautiously approved of Stoltenberg's ascension, saying "we have very good relations, including personal relations." The new NATO chief promised to react with an "open mind" if Russia sought to restart the NATO-Russia council, which has ceased operations since Russia's annexation of Crimea in March.

Some 75 people are reported to have died since the Ukrainian-Separatist truce, which was backed by Kyiv and the Kremlin, went into effect on September 5.

es/nm (AP, AFP, Reuters)