RUSSIA WARNS NATO NOT TO SUPPORT KIEV IN UKRAINE CONFLICT

Russia has warned NATO soldiers trying to uphold a fragile ceasefire in eastern Ukraine against supporting the government in Kiev, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

"Such a scenario would undoubtedly lead to further tensions near the Russian border," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in Moscow on Friday, according to the Interfax news agency. "Of course, the Russian side would then have to take additional measures to ensure their security," he said without specifying which measures he was referring to.

The news comes after the Ukrainian Defense Ministry announced that the United States had pledged its support “in the event of an escalation." Just a week ago, four government soldiers were killed in the conflict zone.

At first, it was said that the soldiers had been killed in a mortar attack by pro-Russian separatists. Later, commander-in-chief Ruslan Khomchak told parliament that snipers had shot deminers in the back as they tried to clear an area of explosives.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke about the developments on Tuesday, with Putin expressing concern about an “escalation of the armed confrontation provoked by Ukraine."

Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), on the other hand, have not registered any escalation. The number of ceasefire violations remains well below the level before the current agreement entered into force in July 2020, it said.

WEEKLY FEATURE : BONNER DYTOC SHOWS THE WAY IN STOCK PLAY