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Lavrov criticizes Ukraine troop mobilization

January 16, 2015

Russia's foreign minister has criticized the Kyiv government's plans to refresh its front-line forces in eastern Ukraine and resume partial conscription, saying that any military actions will not help the peace process.

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Flughafen Donezk 15.01.2015
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Chernov

Sergey Lavrov told a news conference on Friday that he was concerned by Ukraine's plans to rotate its military forces serving in the east of the country, after parliamentarians in Kyiv approved the motion late on Thursday.

"An action related to military preparations does not help the process," Lavrov said in Moscow. "We will hope that all this… does not lead to a renewed military confrontation."

Politicians approved plans to rotate front line forces and also resume partial conscription amid the ongoing conflict against pro-Russian separatists in the eastern states of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Lavrov voiced hope that "common sense will prevail," and that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko would not yield to what he called the "party of war" in Kyiv - a group of nationalist politicians portrayed by Russia as the driving force behind continuing the military conflict.

Berlin Außenministertreffen zu Ukraine Lawrow Klimkin 12.01.2015
Lavrov was in Berlin this week for the failed bid to set up a four-country leaders' peace summit on UkraineImage: picture-alliance/AP/Michael Sohn

Donetsk airport flaring up

According to the military in Kyiv, six Ukrainian soldiers were killed amid fighting over the international airport in the city of Donetsk (pictured at top of story).

"Six of our servicemen have been killed as a result of combat activity and another 18 have been wounded in the past 24 hours," military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told journalists. "

Donetsk International Airport has been the scene of fierce fighting between the two sides in the past, with government forces holding somewhat shaky control of the area.

"They [the separatists] launched a full storm from this morning. We have wounded on our side," presidential adviser Yuri Biryukov wrote on his Facebook page. "There is hot combat going on there and the tension and the situation there is the worst I have seen."

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov also said on Friday that he hoped the continuing peace talks, tentatively scheduled for Friday in Minsk, would focus on the fragile ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, saying that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) should monitor the truce. If successful, Friday's talks could lead to a meeting of Russian, Ukrainian, German and French leaders seeking further progress; the four countries' foreign ministers this week postponed plans for such a leaders' summit, saying that not enough progress had yet been made.

msh/kms (dpa, Reuters)