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MOSCOW (Sputnik) Germany expects the United States touse the countrys influence onall the parties concerned toimplement the Minsk agreements onthe conflict settlement inUkraine, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Thursday.

"We would liketo see the United States not only informed, butalso using their capabilities, asan official representative ofthe State Department said, toexert influence onthose whom they can influence, so that [the Minsk agreements] were respected," Gabriel said afterholding talks withRussian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Gabriel is currently paying a two-day working visit toMoscow inorder todiscuss international issues, including the Syrian and Ukrainian crises and EU-Russia ties.

Sputnik/ Sergey Averin

In February 2015, Kiev forces and Donbass independence supporters signed a peace agreement inthe Belarusian capital ofMinsk. The deal stipulates a full ceasefire, weapons withdrawal fromthe line ofcontact inDonbass, aswell asconstitutional reforms that would give a special status tothe Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. Despite the agreement brokered bythe Normandy Four states, the ceasefire regime is regularly violated, withboth sides accusing each other ofmultiple breaches, undermining the terms ofthe accord.

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Berlin Expects US to Facilitate Implementation of Minsk Deal on Ukraine - Sputnik International

Ukrainian authorities are threatening to impose sanctions on the local subsidiary of Sberbank, Russia's main state bank, after Sberbank said it would recognize passports issued by Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian central bank (NBU) made a statement on March 7, after Sberbank said it would comply with Russian President Vladimir Putin's February 18 decree ordering Russian authorities to recognize identity documents issued by separatists who hold parts of Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

It said that if Sberbank's acceptance of separatist-issued documents was confirmed, the NBU would ask Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council to impose sanctions on the Russian bank's subsidiary in Ukraine.

It did not specify what measures it would seek, and added that the sanctions would be subject to approval by President Petro Poroshenko.

The bank issued its statement after Interior Minister Arsen Avakov called for a ban on Sberbank's operations in Ukraine.

Putin's decree has been criticized by Kyiv, Western governments, and international groups that say it violates or will undermine the European-brokered Minsk peace accords.

The Minsk accords are aimed at ending the war between the government forces and the Russia-backed separatists, which has killed more than 9,750 people since April 2014.

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Ukraine Threatens Russian Bank With Sanctions Over Separatist Documents - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty

During the summer of 2016, in one tragic moment, Evgen Redka lost his friend, his left eye, and the ability to anonymously walk the streets without the concentrated stares of strangers.

The young Ukrainian soldier was nearly killed when the vehicle he was in drove over an anti-tank mine in Eastern Ukraine.

The blast left Redka with excruciating scarring on his face and body, but with help from a specialized team of Canadian medical professionals, there's hope that Redka will once again be able to lead a more normal life.

A team of 20 Canadian medical professionals, including surgeons, anesthesiologists and nurses, worked out of an old Soviet-built hospital in Kyivon a 10-day mission to offer reconstructive surgery to soldiers and civilians wounded during the conflict in the country's eastern regions.

Dr. Oleh Antoyshyn, head surgeon of the mission, fills out a medical record for Evgen Redka before the soldier undergoes an operation. (Anton Skyba)

The workload is unprecedented, but there is no shortage of volunteers willing to work long hours for free, said OlehAntonyshyn, head of the AdultCraniofacialProgram atSunnybrookHealth Sciences Centre and a professor of plastic surgery at the University of Toronto.

"The days are 12, 14 or 16 hours long," Dr. Antonyshyntold CBC News, shortly before an aide whisked him away to inspect another traumatic case. "But still we have many, many more people applying than we have room for."

Torontonian Dr. Harry Fosterand Winnipeg native Dr. Adrian Hawaleshkaare veterans of the mission, which has been in Ukraine three times in the last five years.

While the missions, organized by the Canada-Ukraine Foundation,are mainlyfunded by private donations, the team did receive government support in 2016. They're also supported by Stryker Canada, which provides all surgical hardware and implant materials for the medical procedures.

Dr. Hawaleshka feels connected here as a Canadian of Ukrainian heritage, but both doctors say they want the chance to make a lifelong impact in the lives of people who otherwise would likely never get the specialized care the Canadians can offer.

Nurse Ella Bakh, centre, records patient details after a surgery. (Anton Skyba)

"A lot of these guys are solemn, and you can tell that they've lost hope at a young age," says Dr. Foster. "I'm just hoping I can use my skills to give them back a bit of hope."

Canadian medical professionals including craniofacialreconstructive plastic surgeons, microsurgeons, neurosurgeons, anesthesiologists, GPs, nurses and physical therapists have now completed over 300 reconstructive procedures on a total of 127 patients through the mission.

In 2015, they operated on a 10-year-old boy named Mykola, who was wounded by a blast in Eastern Ukraine. The boy lost both of his legs and one arm, and sustained dramatic shrapnel damage to his face and body.

He was brought via train to the Canadian doctors by a Ukrainian volunteer who'd heard about the medical mission on the news. The doctors operated on him almost immediately to help alleviate some of the scarring on the young boy's face and to pull bits of shrapnelfrom his body.

Eventually, they helped send him to Shriners Hospital for Children in Montreal, where he stayed for one year while receiving prosthetic limbs and relearning how to walk.

Dr. Oleh Antonshyn, head surgeon for the mission, checks X-rays during the pre-op day. (Anton Skyba)

At first, the patients included civilians shot by government snipers during Ukraine's 2014 Maidan revolution, but now virtually all the patients are Ukrainian soldiers. Their injuries are all sustained on thefront linesand run the gauntlet from almost inconceivable burns and disquieting cases of facial trauma, to more minor but still debilitating wounds.

The soldiers are victims of the war in Eastern Ukraine, which began in the early spring of 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula and quietly began sending troops and military equipment across the border into Ukrainian territory.

Combined Russian-separatist forces have fought the Ukrainian military since the spring of 2014. The fighting has now taken the lives of more than 9,750 people and wounded over 20,000 according to official UN figures, while displacing more than 1.8 million people from their homes.

Most of the Ukrainian soldiers seeking treatment will never be able to serve again.

At least one, Valeri Skachka, 24, recalled being trained by Canadian soldiers stationed in Western Ukraine during Operation Unifier.

"They just operated at such a serious level," said Skachka of his timewith the Canadian troops. "It was eye-opening to see that level of organization and equipment."

Valeri Skachka shows his certificate of participation in Unifier traning, a day after he had hand surgery from the Canadian surgery mission to Ukraine. (Anton Skyba)

Skachka is currently eager to return to the fighting, after surgery on his hand.

In two days of consultations, Dr.Antonyshynand his team saw dozens of patients to determine whether they can be offered treatment. That's followed by five gruelling days of intricate surgery.

And although U.S. President Trump's commitment to Ukraine in the conflict, established under the Obama administration, has been called into question, a set of U.S. Army onlookers joined the Canadian team for this mission.

U.S. Army Major Justin Miller made the trip from Germany as part of a six-person detachment from the American military who are hoping to replicate the Canadian medical mission for their own standalone aid program for Ukraine.

"We're in the early stages of planning for the U.S. mission," Miller, a veteran of the Iraq War, told CBC News."But being here and seeing the amount of injuries and disfigurements from war, I can tell you it's been awhile since we've seen this on our side."

Dr. Todd Mainprize, head of neurosurgery at Sunnybrook Health Sciences, finishes his operation in Kyiv Central Military Hospital. (Anton Skyba)

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Canadian doctors rebuild bodies shattered by war in Ukraine - CBC.ca

Former International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland answers a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, October 24, 2016. (Adrian Wyld/CP)

OTTAWA The Liberal government on Monday extended its military training mission in Ukraine, amid warnings Russia could attempt to destabilize Canadas political system.

But while largely welcomed by the Ukrainian government, the extension is being criticized by the Opposition for not going far enough in helping deal with a new outbreak of violence in the country.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Canadian military trainers will remain in Ukraine until at least March 2019.

Canada has had about 200 trainers in the eastern European country since the summer of 2015, where they have taught about 3,200 Ukrainian troops the basics of soldiering as well as some advanced skills.

But the mission, which began after Russia annexed Crimea and began supporting separatist forces in Ukraines Donbass region, had been set to expire at the end of this month.

Sajjan said the extension was intended to show Canadas unwavering commitment to Ukraine, while sending a very strong message to Russia that its actions will not be tolerated.

It is Russias actions that have caused us to do this, Sajjan said during a news conference with Freeland outside the House of Commons, where the two ministers were flanked by more than a dozen Liberal MPs.

Crimea, Ukraine and some of the other actions that they have taken. So thats something we always have to put into context. It is their actions that are making us to respond in this manner.

At one point, Freeland suggested those actions could also include trying to interfere in or destabilize Canadas political system as Russia is accused of having done in the United States.

There have been efforts, as U.S. intelligence forces have said, by Russia to destabilize the U.S. political system, she said, referring to allegations the Kremlin tried to influence last years presidential election.

I think that Canadians, and indeed other western countries, should be prepared for similar efforts to be directed at us.

Mondays announcement was highly anticipated after Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko publicly appealed for an extension when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Kyiv last July.

Ukrainian Ambassador Andriy Shevchenko said his country is grateful for Canadas continued support, particularly after the worst outbreak of violence in eastern Ukraine since 2015.

Dozens of soldiers and civilians were killed in the region in February, raising fears that what had already been a tenuous ceasefire between the Ukrainian government in Kyiv and Russian-backed rebels was dead.

Nearly 10,000 people have been killed since fighting erupted in April 2014, and hundreds of thousands more have been forced from their homes.

We welcome this news with great gratitude to the Canadian people and with hope that this will bring more security both for Ukraine and Canada, Shevchenko said.

To Ukrainians, its a sign of solidarity. To Russia, its a very strong signal of deterrence. And to the world, I think its a very powerful message of global leadership in dealing with global threats and global issues.

But Shevchenko said his country still needs assistance in other areas, particularly lethal aid such as anti-tank weapons as well as satellite imagery to track rebel and Russian troop movements.

Ukraine has been pressing for such lethal aid for years, but the ambassador said the recent fighting really shows that we need these weapons just as bad as we needed them in the beginning of the war.

Canada, meanwhile, did provide satellite imagery under the previous Conservative government, but the Liberals stopped the practice when they came to power.

Conservative foreign affairs critic Peter Kent criticized the Liberals bare-bones mission extension, saying it fell far short of what was needed, given the new surge in violence.

That includes a resumption in the sharing of satellite imagery and the provision of weapons, which the Tories also refused to provide but which Kent said is now necessary, given the uptick in fighting.

Our worst concerns have been realized today with a bare-bones extension of Operation Unifier, which doesnt recognize the very changed situation in eastern Ukraine, he said. We are disappointed.

Russian Embassy spokesman Kirill Kalinin, meanwhile, released a statement describing the extension as counterproductive and calling on Canada to pressure Ukraine to sue for peace with the rebels.

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Liberals extend Ukraine mission to 2019, but face criticism - Macleans.ca

KIEV Ukraine's central bank said on Tuesday it was likely to recommend the introduction of sanctions on the local subsidiary of Sberbank over the Russian lender's decision to recognize passports issued by separatists in eastern Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Kremlin-owned Sberbank said it would comply with an order from President Vladimir Putin in February for Russian authorities to recognize identity documents issued in the separatist-held regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in east Ukraine.

"If this information is confirmed, the central bank will raise with the National Security and Defence Council the question of introducing sanctions on the subsidiary of Russia's Sberbank in Ukraine," the Ukrainian central bank said in a statement.

It did not say what form sanctions would take or if restrictions would be applied to other Kremlin-owned banks operating in Ukraine.

Five Russian state-owned banks are present in Ukraine, including three in the top 20, and they hold a combined market share of 8.6 percent.

The central bank has sought to cut that following a breakdown in bilateral relations in 2014 due to Moscow's annexation of Crimea and support for the pro-Russian separatists.

Following Putin's order, Sberbank said in emailed comments on Tuesday that it "is currently prepared to provide services in all affiliated branches to individuals with passports from the DNR and LNR," referring to the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk separatist republics in eastern Ukraine.

It is not yet clear how the other Kremlin-owned banks operating in Ukraine are handling Putin's order.

(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; Additional reporting Alexander Winning in Moscow; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; editing by David Stamp)

KABUL Gunmen dressed as doctors attacked a military hospital close to the U.S. embassy in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Wednesday and were engaging security forces inside the building, officials and witnesses said.

BEIRUT A U.S. Navy ship changed course in the Hormuz Strait on Saturday toward Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessels, a guards commander was quoted as saying on Tuesday while issuing a warning.

SEOUL A man claiming to be the son of the slain, estranged half brother of North Korea's leader said he was lying low with his mother and sister, in a video posted online by a group that said it helped rescue them following the murder a month ago.

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Ukraine eyes sanctions on subsidiary of Russia's Sberbank - Reuters