KIEV, Ukraine
Kiev will regard any intrusion by Russian soldiers onto Ukrainian soil as an invasion and will take necessary steps, the Acting Head of the Administration of the President of Ukraine Sergey Pashinskiy has said.
In a statement on Friday, Pashinskiy criticised Russian military drills launched a day earlier along the Ukrainian border, along with the rising tension and "unequal and unfair use of force by Ukrainians" in restive eastern regions of the country.
He also criticized a statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin saying "a military operation by Ukraine against its own people will entail consequences for Kiev authorities".
Pashinskiy said in response: “In the event of any crossing of the border by Russian troops into Donetsk or other regions, we will qualify this as an invasion and we will eliminate the invaders.”
He said an "anti-terrorist" operation would continue with the aim of encircling the city of Slavyansk, the pro-Russian separatist stronghold, to dislodge "terrorists" by imposing a blockade to prevent militants getting reinforcements and supplies.
'An expensive mistake'
During his remarks to the press, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also warned Moscow that it should be prepared to pay a hefty price if it continues to threaten Ukraine, saying: "It will not just be a grave mistake, it will be an expensive mistake."
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry claimed on Thursday to have captured and destroyed three checkpoints outside Slavyansk as part of its so-called "anti-terror" operation, aimed at bringing the country’s restive east back under government control.
Kiev authorities announced that five militants from pro-Moscow groups manning checkpoints outside the city had been killed during the operation.
The Ukrainian government’s first attempt at launching operations against pro-Russia militants ground to an embarrassing halt last week after an armored column of Ukrainian paratroopers from Dnipropetrovsk surrendered to the rebels, while another group refused to engage the armed groups and returned to base in the neighboring region.
Interim President Oleksandr Turchynov ordered a re-launch of Kiev’s operations after pro-Ukrainian politician Vladimir Rybak was found dead on Saturday.
Ukraine drops 'warning' leaflets
The Ukrainian government distributed leaflets from a helicopter appealing for calm during Thursday's offensive on the eastern cities of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk under pro-Russian control.
In the leaflets, the Interior Ministry warned residents not to leave their homes and to avoid any provocation by rebels as Ukraine's mission continued across the eastern Donetsk region.
The leaflets also included phone numbers of the Interior Ministry and the security forces in case of emergency.
Earlier this month, pro-Russian elements announced a self-proclaimed ‘People’s Republic of Donetsk’ after occupying government buildings in the region.
The ministry leaflets also requested that residents stay away from buildings seized by pro-Russian rebels, and cautioned against the risk of being used as human shields or being taken hostage by the armed rebels controlling the cities.
However, a warning on the website of the Interior Ministry said that the "self-proclaimed mayor of Slavyansk Ponomarev" threatened that anyone seen with the leaflet will be "shot on sight".
'No Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine'
Earlier on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rebuffed claims by the US Department of State that many of the well-armed and uniformed pro-Russian gunmen known as “green men” fighting in Ukraine's turbulent eastern cities were Russian combatants.
Lavrov's remarks came in response to photographs distributed by the US on Sunday suggesting that there were soldiers from the Russian military and intelligence forces among the "green men" who were "equipped in the same fashion as Russian special operations troops".
Describing the claim as "childish" Lavrov asserted that the photos might be "Photoshop products".
"We can't describe everyone in Russian military camouflage as Russian soldiers," he said.
Last week, the Russian President also rejected the photos and said: "There are no Russian units in eastern Ukraine — no special services, no tactical advisers. All this is being done by the local residents."
"If current Kiev authorities want to comply with the Geneva Accord, it should take the protesters out of Kiev's Maidan and evacuate the occupied buildings," he added.
He also voiced Moscow's "insistence" that the Geneva agreement signed last week by Russia, Ukraine, U.S. and the EU, with the aim of defusing the tension in Ukraine by disarming militias and paramilitary units in the country, must be fulfilled.
Obama phones allies amid Ukraine unrest
U.S. President Barack Obama phoned his western allies Friday, warning that Washington is prepared to impose targeted sanctions on Russia as heightened tensions persist along Ukraine’s border with Russia.
Russia launched new military exercises on its border with Ukraine Thursday, shortly after the Ukrainian government attempted to retake a pro-Russian checkpoint outside the separatist stronghold of Slavyansk. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said that five pro-Russian “militants” were killed and one Ukraine government officer was injured during the confrontation.
Eastern Ukraine continues to be wracked by unrest as pro-Russian demonstrators, some armed, occupy government buildings and checkpoints despite an accord brokered last week between Ukraine, the U.S., the EU and Russia. The deal called for the demonstrators to disarm and abandon occupied buildings in exchange for amnesty.
During Obama’s multilateral call with French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Premier Matteo Renzi and British Prime Minister David Cameron, the leaders lauded Kiev’s efforts to fulfill its obligations under the accord, but added that the Kremlin has yet to fulfill its own.
Obama stated that Washington is prepared to impose targeted sanctions on Moscow’s already hobbled economy in response to “Russia’s latest actions.” The leaders agreed to closely coordinate together and through the G7 and EU on additional steps to impose costs on Russia.
Still, they emphasized that Russia could choose to pursue a peaceful resolution to the ongoing strife.
Merkel: Further sanctions against Russia possible
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said European Union foreign ministers would meet "as soon as possible" to consider further sanctions against Russia, amid rising tension in the east of Ukraine.
Merkel said on Friday during a joint press conference with Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk at the German Chancellery, that she had held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier in the day and made her point of view clear.
"The Ukraine has taken a whole series of steps to implement the Geneva process. On the other hand, Russian commitment during the process lacks," Merkel said.
She reiterated her call for Putin to use his influence to moderate pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.
"Russia has the opportunity... to bring the separatists along a peaceful way of constitutional debate and election preparation. Such signals have unfortunately failed to materialize so far," she added.
Tusk earlier proposed the construction of an "energy union" among the EU's 28 member states in order to make the EU less dependent on Russian gas supplies.
"I support the proposals in principle," said Merkel.
She said that they needed a common energy market, adding: "Now it's about how we can combine our European power, both in the private sector as well as in the public sector, better."
Tusk said the different interests of the member states would have to be coordinated properly.
Council of Europe calls all Ukraine sides to back off
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe's (PACE) President called on all sides of the conflict in Ukraine to "urgently" de-escalate the situation on Friday.
Anne Brasseur asked all sides to "urgently de-escalate the situation and end all violent or provocative action and return to what was agreed in Geneva, particularly regarding the disarmament of illegal armed groups currently active in Ukraine.”
PACE's president also expressed her concern over "information coming from Ukraine about the resumption of violence, including in the city of Sloviansk."
Back on April 10, PACE stripped Russia of its voting rights in the Council of Europe until the end of 2014. Since then, Russian delegates are banned from participating in the council's governing bodies and monitoring missions.
PACE said it will impose more sanctions on Russia unless it reverses the annexation of Crimea.
ICC begins examination of alleged Ukraine crimes
The International Criminal Court has opened a preliminary examination of alleged crimes in Ukraine during the last months of former-President Viktor Yanukovych's rule, the ICC has said.
The Government of Ukraine lodged a declaration under Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute accepting the jurisdiction of the ICC over alleged crimes committed on its territory from 21 November 2013 to 22 February 2014, according to an ICC statement issued on Friday.
ICC said its prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, decided to open a preliminary examination into the situation in Ukraine in order to establish whether the Rome Statute criteria had been met.
Based on a treaty joined by 122 countries, excluding Ukraine, the court is an independent, permanent court that tries people accused of the most serious crimes of international concern, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The Ukrainian Parliament adopted the Declaration of Recognition of the Jurisdiction of the ICC on February 25.
Dozens of protesters were killed in Ukraine between November and February when the country faced anti-government protests as Yanukovych rejected a free-trade agreement with the EU amid pressure from Russia.
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