Ukraine Sees Shelling Worsen as Merkel Says Truce Not Met

Ukraine reported intensified shelling in its war-ravaged east as German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the terms of a month-old truce arent being met.

The government reported one death among its forces the past day, saying pro-Russian insurgents fired artillery rounds at the military on 33 occasions. While the cease-fire isnt flawless, the tendency in Ukraine is unambiguously positive, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. The rebels yesterday described the truce as all but dead.

Its obvious that the Minsk agreement isnt implemented yet, Merkel said today after talks with Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz in Berlin. Drones could be used to monitor the truce, but the condition for everything is that the cease-fire really holds. You can see how fragile the situation is right now.

While the truce, sealed Sept. 5, has reduced the bloodshed in Ukraines easternmost regions, its been marred by daily violence. There have been at least 331 deaths since the deal was agreed, the United Nations estimates. The rebels say theyre ready to resume peace talks once Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe agree on the terms.

Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said today in Washington that more international financing will be needed to prop up Ukraines war-battered economy, but that not all of the funding should come from the IMF. Lagarde, speaking at an event during the IMFs fall meetings, said other lenders will need to participate, without providing details.

The Washington-based IMF has already approved a $17 billion bailout loan to help Ukraine stay afloat.

Ukrainian central bank chief Valeriya Gontareva said last month the official support program from the IMF envisages a 6.5 percent shrinkage in the countrys gross domestic product this year. She said the really drastic deterioration of economic conditions will cause a revision showing an even larger economic contraction.

I suppose that it will be minus 9 percent, or even 10 percent, she told reporters in Kiev on Sept. 13.

Olexander Motsyk, the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S., told reporters in Washington that 3,000 Russian troops remain on the Ukrainian side of the border between the two countries. He said the cease-fire has been violated more than 1,000 times though its difficult to say if the violations have been committed by Russian forces or pro-Russian separatists.

One civilian was killed in Donetsk in fighting today, the city council said on its website, while artillery rounds were heard all day in the city.

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Ukraine Sees Shelling Worsen as Merkel Says Truce Not Met

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