Russia, U.S. Trade Accusations Over Troops in Ukraine
By Alan Cullison
Updated April 23, 2015 7:18 p.m. ET
KIEV—Russia and the U.S. accused each other of endangering the terms of a cease-fire by inserting troops into the conflict zone in Ukraine, as fighting continued in the country’s east.
The stepped-up rhetoric comes amid signs of an unraveling of the accord hammered out in January in Minsk to end combat, which began last year when Russia-backed militias seized control of two eastern Ukrainian provinces.
While fighting was subdued on Thursday, Ukrainian troops and pro-Russia rebels have been exchanging fire near the eastern Ukrainian cities of Donetsk and Mariupol for the past few days, European military observers said.
A State Department spokeswoman, Marie Harf, on Wednesday accused Russia of building up air-defense systems inside eastern Ukraine, calling it “the highest amount of Russian air defense equipment in eastern Ukraine since August.” Ms. Harf also said Russian troops were taking part in training exercises with pro-Russia rebels in the area in violation of the cease-fire, and that Russian forces were massing along Ukraine’s border inside Russia in the largest buildup since October.
Such a buildup of Russian forces along Ukraine’s border presaged heavy fighting inside Ukraine last year.
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http://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-u-s-trade-accusations-over-troops-in-ukraine-1429813661