March 6, 2015

At the crossroads of war and peace 

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UNITED NATIONS – An OSCE official has warned against “further escalation of the conflict” in eastern Ukraine despite encouraging signs of a ceasefire taking hold between government troops and pro-Russian separatists. Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) special representative Heidi Tagliavini told the United Nations Security Council on February 27 that “we seem to be at the crossroads” of war and peace in Ukraine. The 15-member council was holding its first meeting since it endorsed a ceasefire agreement that was reached in Minsk on February 12 aimed at ending a conflict that has killed at least 5,600 people since April. Ms. Tagliavini said fighting was subsiding, prisoners had been released, and the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line had begun. But she added that the situation remained volatile. “Unless the guns fall silent, there will be no hope for stabilizing the situation, let alone for peace,” Ms. Tagliavini told the Security Council in New York by video link. “We know that we are far away from this goal.” The OSCE has deployed 450 monitors in Ukraine. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press)

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