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Ukrainian government soldiers on a road stretching away from the town of Artemivsk, Ukraine, towards Debaltseve. Photo: Petr David Josek

Donetsk, Ukraine: Government forces and pro-Russian separatists said they would not carry out an agreement to pull back heavy guns in east Ukraine, pushing a shaky peace deal closer to collapse.

Fighting has eased in many areas since a ceasefire came into force on Sunday, but the rebels have refused to halt attacks on a town where Ukrainian forces are encircled and Kiev says it will not pull back its big guns until the truce holds.

Monitors from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe(OSCE) were expected to try to reach the besieged town, Debaltseve, after Germany said it had agreed on steps with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine to ensure the observers had "free access" in the east.

But a call by Berlin for the withdrawal of heavy weaponry to start seemed to have fallen on deaf ears, though officials from Russia, Ukraine, the OSCE and the rebels were expected to discuss implementation of the peace deal by phone.

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"We do not have the right [to stop fighting for Debaltseve]," said Denis Pushilin, a senior separatist representative. "It's even a moral thing. It's internal territory.

"We have to respond to fire, to work on destroying the enemy's fighting positions."

Asked about plans to carry out the agreement to withdraw big guns, he said: "We are ready at any time, we have everything ready for a mutual withdrawal. We will not do anything unilaterally. That would make our soldiers targets."

Ukraine's military reiterated that its forces also also could not start withdrawing big weapons such as heavy artillery, as set out in the deal reached at marathon talks brokered by France and Germany in the Belarussian capital of Minsk last Thursday.

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Ukraine peace deal close to collapse