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Pence Looks to Reassure Ukraine, Baltics of US Support Wall Street Journal (subscription) Vice President Mike Pence met this weekend with the leaders of Ukraine and its Baltic neighbors, offering reassurances of U.S. commitment to European security amid questions about the Trump administration's Russia policy. Ukraine has seen an escalation ... and more »

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Pence Looks to Reassure Ukraine, Baltics of US Support - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

ABU DHABI, United Arab EmiratesUkraine's SpetsTechnoExport is trying its hand at arming an unmanned ground vehicle, debuting its Fantom vehicle with an anti-tank missile system called Barrier.

The nearly invisible vehicle with Barrier and a 12.7 mm caliber machine gun is designed to go up against heavy and light armored targets from a distance of 100 to 5,000 meters, according to a company statement. SpetsTechnoExport is part of Ukraines defense company Ukroboronprom.

In addition to Barrier, Fantom is designed to accommodate a variety of different armaments on a stabilized rotating platform, the company added.

The vehicle can even maneuver on sand due to its hybrid all-wheel drive engine, independent suspension and hydraulic brake system. The UGV is also equipped with a secure radio channel.

"The purpose of this project is development of equipment that can effectively perform different combat missions while minimizing risks to the military personnel's lives, Pavlo Barbul, SpetsTechnoExports director, said.

The first Fantom was showcased at an arms exhibition in 2016 in Kyiv.

While unmanned ground vehicles come with a host of mobility and autonomy challenges, arming an unmanned vehicle has always carried an additional level of concern when it comes to operational safety.

But Ukraine, which has continued to fight back Russian incursions for the past several years, has to move quickly to develop capability that can fight effectively against the Russian tank and armored vehicle threats along its border.

Fantom can perform fire support of ground units, conduct reconnaissance and hold surveillance at block posts or border, deliver equipment and ammunition, evacuate the wounded, as well as be the source of power, and participate in de-mining operations, the company said.

And Fantom can be teamed with other unmanned aerial systems, likely another answer to counter Russias hybrid warfare tactics using drones observed on the frontlines in Ukraine.

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Ukraine company debuts tank-busting unmanned ground vehicle - DefenseNews.com

Foreign Ministers of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin, France Jean-Marc Ayrault, Russia Sergey Lavrov and Germany Sigmar Gabriel pose for a photograph during the 53rd Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany on Feb. 18, 2017. Sven Hopp / Reuters

The agreement aimed to end fighting in the disputed area of Ukraine.

"The Minsk agreement is the only channel we have to bring a solution to this conflict," Merkel said. "The Minsk agreement started on the assumption that there was a road map, but when it was enacted there was no continuous ceasefire."

NATO allies laid the consequences of the conflicts at the feet of Russia, which has claimed no responsibility for the separatist activities, although it annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014. Most nations, including European Union members and the United States, do not recognize Crimea as a part of the Russian state.

A Ukrainian hacker group named Cyber Hunta also

Since then, European nations have grown increasingly alarmed by Russia's use of force along its western border.

"We have seen a more assertive Russia," NATO Secretary General Jens Soltenberg told CNBC at the Munich Security Conference. "We have seen a Russia that has invested heavily in new military capabilities, which has tripled spending on defense over the last years, and most importantly which has been willing to use military force against neighbors in Georgia and Ukraine. And that's exactly why NATO is responding in a measured defensive way."

Stoltenberg said NATO will invest in defense upgrades for any new conflicts, whether that's on the ground or in cyberspace.

"We have to be agile. We have to be prepared for the unforeseen," he added. "And that's exactly what we are doing when we are increasing the readiness of our forces, when we are increasing the presence of our forces in the eastern part of the alliance and we are."

President Donald Trump has flip-flopped on his support for NATO. After the November election, he told the Times of London that the 28-state alliance is obsolete, but then earlier this month said "we strongly support NATO." Meanwhile, he has refused to criticize Russia, recently stating that the United States is

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Russia Announces Another Ceasefire Deal With Ukraine Amid Tensions With West - NBCNews.com

Ukrainians are holding several days of events to mark the third anniversary of the end of what they call the Revolution of Dignity.

A hundred people, now known as the Heavenly Hundred, were shot dead by riot police in February 2014 during protests on Independence Square locally known as the Maidan in central Kyiv.

Local resident Daryna Kulchytska was among those gathered in Independence Square on Saturday (February 18, 2017).

I dont want people to forget what it was like, how people stood up and wanted to change something, how people were ready to give everything, even their lives, for the sake of our future, she told reporters.

The square in the capital has become symbolic of a shift that turned Ukraine away from Russia and towards Europe.

Serviceman Yuriy Myhalevych reflected on the events of 2014.

People became different, compared to how they used to be. People felt that they could change something in this country. But unfortunately, there have not been enough changes over the past three years.

The Maidan movement began as an outcry against the-then President Viktor Yanukovychs rejection of a trade deal with the European Union.

Following the deadly events in Kyiv, the Kremlin-backed leader and his inner circle fled to Russia.

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Ukraine reflects on deadly 'Revolution of Dignity' - euronews

MUNICH -- A new cease-fire has been agreed to for eastern Ukraine, but some Russia-backed separatists could not say if they would respect the fighting halt, and a Ukrainian leader said he was not pleased with the results of a four-party meeting in Munich.

The cease-fire was announced on February 18 by Russia and was brokered together with the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Germany, and France after talks at the Munich Security Conference.

The cease-fire is scheduled to go into effect on February 20.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the agreement a "positive" development, but he also acknowledged the lack of "major progress" at the meeting.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel told reporters the aim was to do what has long been agreed but never implemented: To withdraw the heavy weapons from the region, to secure them, and enable the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) monitors to control where they are kept."

Russian-backed separatists on the ground would not confirm they were planning to respect the cease-fire.

Some of them said it was not feasible for it to come into force so soon.

"There has been artillery fire all day," Eduard Basurin, a senior separatist, told AFP on February 18.

"What truce are they talking about? I don't see the point in declaring a truce."

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin confirmed the cease-fire agreement but warned it must become more than a "political slogan."

He told reporters he was "not at all" pleased with the meeting.

"This has to be the real situation -- and if that's not the case, we will have to have fresh negotiations," he told Ukrainian reporters in Munich.

He added that no "powerful results" where achieved at the Munich meeting of the so-called Normandy Format, consisting of Russia, Ukraine, Germany, and France.

Russia-backed separatists control areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in Ukraines east nearly three years after the start of their war against Kyivs forces that has killed more than 9,750.

Fighting has intensified this month, resulting in the deaths of about 30 people.

Russia also annexed Ukraine's Black Sea region of Crimea in 2014.

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New Cease-Fire Agreed For Ukraine, But Tensions Still High - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty