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EU foreign ministers want the ceasefire in Ukraine respected following a sharp escalation of fighting last week between Kiev and Russia-backed separatists.

"We restated with all the ministers the strong support of the European Union to the full implementation of the Minsk agreements," the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told reporters in Brussels on Monday (6 February).

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"The European Union will continue to support Ukraine."

Britain's foreign minister Boris Johnson told reporters ahead of the meeting that for the UK, sanctions would also not be lifted on Russia for annexing Crimea. "There is no case for the relaxation of the sanctions," he said.

Belgium's foreign minister Didier Reynders said the European Union also needed to have a greater role in the three-year-old war. But not everyone was happy with Hungary's foreign minister Peter Szijarto describing the sanctions against Russia as having little impact.

The EU call comes amid contradictory signals from the US administration on Russia.

Donald Trump's flattery for Russia's president Vladimir Putin, despite evidence of US election rigging, has sowed confusion.

Trump said sanctions would remain but had also said "well see what happens".

Nikki Haley, the new US ambassador to the United Nations, took a clearer line. She said earlier this month that Crimea-related sanctions would continue until Russia returns control of the peninsula to Ukraine.

The Ukraine government appears undeterred by the mixed signals from the US, however.

On Monday, its vice-prime minister Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze told MEPs in Brussels that Trump's administration would "get the whole picture" in the coming months.

"US policy is being built on the national interests of the United States of America, that includes among other things, the secure stable democratic development in this part of the world," she said.

Klympush-Tsintsadze accused Russian forces of deliberately shelling humanitarian aid centres in Avdiivka, a city in eastern Donetsk province.

The city was gripped in some of the most intense fighting between Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed insurgents last week since 2015. Klympush-Tsintsadze said 15 Ukrainian military personnel and three civilians were killed in the region.

She said Russian regular military forces and armed groups had attempted to break through the Ukrainian defence lines on 29 January. The attack happened a day after Trump had spoken to Putin about Ukraine and mutual cooperation on the phone.

The town, with a population of over 20,000, was left without electricity as winter temperatures plummeted to well below freezing.

Klympush-Tsintsadze also said that Russia continues to send troops, weapons, and mercenaries, across the 409km border that separates the two countries.

A lull in fighting appears to have set in over the past few days but an official from the EU's foreign policy branch, the EEAS, said the conflict remains highly volatile.

"There is still frequent use of rocket artillery, heavy artillery, mortars and tanks along the contact line," he said.

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EU wants Ukraine ceasefire respected amid renewed fighting - EUobserver

Low wages and rapidly rising prices have made petrol more expensive in Ukraine than anywhere else in Europe.

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According to RIA Rating research, while gasoline in Ukraine remains one of the cheapest in Europe after Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Russia at $0.88 per liter for high-octane petroleum, low wages make it the least affordable.

An average Ukrainian earns slightly more than $200 a month, according to the finance ministry's website.

The research concluded an average Ukrainian could buy only 185.1 liters, or refill a tank three times each month.

That's only half of what Bulgarians can afford; the country ranked second worst-performer in the rating.

Ukraine had the biggest surge in petroleum prices last year at 21.5 percent, which outpaced the country's inflation of 12.4 percent.

While gasoline prices are the highest in the Netherlands, its citizens can still buy 1,837 liters of premium gas a month. Countries with the cheapest petrol, income adjusted, are Luxembourg, Norway, and the UK.

Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Russia have the cheapest gasoline in Europe, but lower salaries compared to Western countries make it less affordable. While a Russian can buy 814 liters of petroleum a month, this is a better result than the EUs Portugal, Poland or the Baltic States, but smaller compared to the blocs northern and western countries.

The research concludes Eastern and Southern Europe has the least affordable gasoline on the Continent.

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Ukraine has least affordable gasoline in Europe by far - RT

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, wants President Trump to authorize the Pentagon to send weapons to Ukraine in its battle with Russian separatists.

Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill believe the U.S. must help the former Soviet state end the conflict on its eastern border by sending Kiev defensive weapons, Thornberry told reporters Monday.

"It was incredibly frustrating that the Obama administration wouldn't do that," Thornberry said about President Obama's rebuffing lawmakers' and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's request for such weapons.

"I hope that the new administration will do it," he said.

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It is unclear if Trump is willing to deviate from Obama's precedent. This summer, former campaign manager Paul Manafort successfully fought to remove the issue from the party's platform ahead of the Republican National Convention.

Both Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said they support sending the U.S. ally weapons during their confirmation hearings.

Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, blasted Russia for inciting the recent uptick in violence in Donetsk during her first appearance before the Security Council last week.

She also called on Moscow to return Crimea to Ukraine.

"The United States continues to condemn and call for an immediate end to the Russian occupation of Crimea," she said.

Also from the Washington Examiner

President Trump is still popular in core Republican strongholds.

02/07/17 12:06 AM

Whether Trump will risk Russian President Vladimir Putin's ire by demanding he return Crimea or sending Kiev weapons is an open question. Just Saturday, Trump told Fox News: "I say it's better to get along with Russia than not."

During the presidential campaign, Trump hinted that if elected he might officially recognize Crimea as belonging to Russia.

Kiev is panicked that Washington is backing away from supporting Ukraine's efforts to retain its sovereignty. Trump and Poroshenko, an oligarch known as the "Chocolate King," spoke on Saturday. During the call, Trump told Poroshenko: "We will work with Ukraine, Russia and all other parties involved to help them restore peace along the border," according to the White House.

Top Story

President Trump is still popular in core Republican strongholds.

02/07/17 12:06 AM

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Thornberry urges Trump to send weapons to Ukraine - Washington Examiner

"The United States continues to condemn and call for an immediate end to the Russian occupation of Crimea," said Nikki Haley, President Donald Trump's envoy to the world body. "Crimea is a part of Ukraine. Our Crimea-related sanctions will remain in place until Russia returns control over the peninsula to Ukraine."

Sources told CNN Thursday evening that the White House was aware in advance of Haley's speech. A source told CNN's Dana Bash that Haley didn't get direction from the White House but she wasn't asked not do to it. Another source told CNN's Elise Labott the National Security Council signed off on the remarks.

The first source said Haley made clear in private conversations as well as during her confirmation hearings how she felt about hot spots like Russia, though her point of view clearly differs from some of what the President said during the campaign.

As a candidate, the President hinted he might recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea. In the weeks before and after his inauguration, Trump's refusal to condemn Russian hacking during the election and his attacks on the intelligence community for investigating those hacks raised questions about his ties to Moscow.

At a news conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May last week, he said it was "too early" to discuss sanctions.

On Thursday, the Treasury Department slightly eased a sanction the Obama administration put in place against Russia's Federal Security Service, known as the FSB.

A top State Department official said the move was made as a technical fix to the sanctions that were put in place to avoid "unintended consequences" of US government business with Russia.

While Washington was taking that step, Haley was lobbing verbal grenades. "I consider it unfortunate that the occasion of my first appearance here is one in which I must condemn the aggressive actions of Russia," she said. "We do want to better our relations with Russia. However, the dire situation in eastern Ukraine is one that demands clear and strong condemnation of Russian actions."

"The sudden increase in fighting in eastern Ukraine has trapped thousands of civilians and destroyed vital infrastructure and the crisis is spreading, endangering many thousands more," Haley added. "This escalation of violence must stop."

At one point in the charged meeting, Ukraine's Ambassador to the UN, Volodymyr Yelchenko, held up a photo of a Ukraine serviceman who was killed days ago. Looking at the Russian ambassador, Yelchenko said, "You killed him."

While Haley's remarks echoed many speeches delivered by the Obama administration's UN ambassador, Russia's Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin told reporters that he thinks "there is a change in tone" with the new US administration. He added that he wasn't surprised by Haley's speech.

Some analysts see the surge in fighting as a Russian test of US resolve or perhaps an attempt to send Ukraine a message that after years of Obama administration support, the Trump administration will be more friendly to Moscow than Kiev.

Fighting between Russian-backed rebels from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and the Ukrainian army exploded a day after Trump had his first phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday. Russia accuses Ukraine of starting the escalation.

Churkin said that Ukraine was "desperately, frantically trying to achieve a military settlement to the conflict." He blamed Kiev for the recent escalation, saying it was meant to keep the issue "on the international agenda" and "at the same time suck in with their reckless confrontational policy newly elected heads of state."

The UK Ambassador to the UN, Matthew Rycroft, told the UN meeting that "we frequently hear from the Russian government, as we did today, that all the problems in eastern Ukraine are the consequence of actions by the Ukrainian government.This is simply not the case. It is an inversion of reality."

He later tweeted, "Great #UNSC debut speech by @NikkiHaley today. Fully agree that sanctions must remain until #Russia returns control of #Crimea to #Ukraine."

Balazs Jarabik, a non-resident fellow at the Carnegie Endowment who studies Central and Eastern Europe, notes that the rebels used rockets that were in flagrant violation of the Minsk Agreement, a ceasefire pact meant to end the fighting.

"Why did they violate it so visibly?" Jarabik asked. "I think there's merit to the speculation that the Russians wanted to show that Kiev doesn't have the backing it used to have from the US."

And initially, the US response was seen as tepid at best. A January 31 statement from the State Department condemned the violence, but didn't mention Russia or contain the statement of support for Ukraine that was customary during the Obama administration.

"There was panicking" in Ukraine after that statement, Jarabik said, speaking from Kiev. "There were Ukrainian pundits saying it's the end of US support -- because it had such a different tone than the Obama administration. The so-called unwavering support seemed gone. It was sending shock waves."

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have long called for a more supportive approach to Ukraine. They often criticized the Obama administration for its refusal to provide Kiev with defensive weapons.

On Thursday, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida called again for the US to provide weapons. "Vladimir Putin's continued aggression against the people of Ukraine is outrageous, and further destabilization in the region will have profound negative consequences for us here in America," Rubio told CNN.

He noted that Trump's new Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis both advocated during their confirmation hearings for providing Ukraine with weapons to defend its sovereign territory.

"I hope President Trump will heed their advice," Rubio said. "We must stand with the people of Ukraine during this difficult hour and make clear to Putin that relations will not improve until Russia respects Ukraine's sovereignty."

Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey drew a link between Trump's mollifying approach to Russia and the aggression in Ukraine. "At the mere hint that President Trump would take a softer stance towards Russia, we have already seen pro-Russian forces emboldened and renew fighting" in eastern Ukraine, he told CNN.

Menendez is part of a bipartisan group of senators who have introduced the Countering Russian Hostilities Act, which he said would hold Russia accountable for its international aggression and interference in the US election.

"I sincerely hope both the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans don't make the mistake of walking away from longstanding, responsible policies to counter Russian aggression," he said.

CNN's Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.

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UN Ambassador Haley hits Russia hard on Ukraine ...

A top rebel commander in Ukraine has reportedly been killed in a car explosion. (AFP file image)

A top rebel commander in eastern Ukraine was killed along with another person when their car exploded, rebels have reported.

The rebels' Lugansk Information Center reported today that Lugansk People's Militia commander Oleg Anashchenko died in the explosion along with an unnamed person.

Ukraine's military, meanwhile, said three soldiers were killed in shelling over the past day.

Fighting between government forces and Russia-backed separatist rebels has escalated over the past week in eastern Ukraine, killing at least 33 people, including civilians, and wounding several dozen.

More than 9,800 people have died since the war began in April 2014.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko spoke late Saturday with US President Donald Trump, who he said expressed "deep concern" over the escalation.

During the call, a statement issued by Mr Poroshenko's office said the two leaders "noted the urgent necessity of establishing a complete cease-fire."

The Ukrainian president thanked Mr Trump for his "strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine."

Mr Poroshenko has cast the outburst of fighting as an argument for continuing Western sanctions imposed on Moscow for its actions in Ukraine.

The White House said Mr Trump had a "very good call" with Mr Poroshenko.

"We will work with Ukraine, Russia, and all other parties involved to help them restore peace along the border," Mr Trump said in a statement.

The government-held town of Avdiivka, just north of the main rebel-controlled city of Donetsk, has been the focus of the fighting.

A temporary cease-fire had been called to allow workers on both sides to restore electricity to freezing residents as shelling eased for much of the day. But the Ukrainian military said rebel forces began a mortar barrage of Avdiivka in the evening.

The daily shelling has left locals in the industrial town of about 35,000 traumatized.

Mr Trump's repeated promises to improve relations with Russia have fueled concern in Ukraine that Washington would back off some of the sanctions.

However, the US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, has said sanctions imposed for Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea will remain.

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Ukraine rebels claim top commander dies in car bombing - 9news.com.au