France cautions Russia on Mariupol

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Wednesday that Europe would consider increased sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine conflict if pro-Russian separatist rebels launched an attack on the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.

"We've told the Russians clearly that if there was a separatist attack in the direction of Mariupol, things would be drastically altered, including in terms of sanctions," Fabius said on France Info radio.

Mariupol is a city of 500,000 people in southeastern Ukraine on the Sea of Azov, which connects to the Black Sea. If it were captured by the pro-Russian separatists currently occupying parts of eastern Ukraine, a corridor could be created to the Crimean peninsula, which has already been annexed by Russia.

On Tuesday evening, Fabius hosted a meeting of his German, Russian, and Ukrainian counterparts to discuss a peace plan which was agreed upon in Minsk two weeks ago but is still very shaky.

'Facing a new situation'

At that meeting, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said any effort by the rebels to take Mariupol "would completely change the foundation of the Minsk accords. We would be facing a new situation."

In Paris, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said Mariupol was critical to maintaining the Minsk accord, and that Kyiv considered the rebels' recent capture of the strategic town of Debaltseve to be a "game changer."

"Any further attacks would trigger a counterattack," he said, indicating clashes had already begun near Mariupol.

Rebels downplay Kyiv claims

Eduard Basurin, a commander from the separatist side, was quoted by Reuters on Tuesday as saying that the rebels did intend to gain control of Mariupol, along with the entire territory of two rebel provinces in eastern Ukraine, but that it would do so through "negotiations with the Ukrainian side."

Basurin denied that clashes were taking place near Mariupol, saying that there had been some provocation from the Ukrainian side but nothing serious.

Pullback underway?

In addition, Basurin said that the rebels were continuing a withdrawal of weapons from the rebel-held city of Donetsk on Wednesday, in line with the conditions of the Minsk ceasefire. Reports have emerged from journalists that howitzer artillery guns were being moved away from the front lines, but it was not clear where the weapons were being moved.

Officials from the Ukrainian military said, however, it was still too early to be withdrawing their own artillery from the front lines. They said they wanted to see two days without fighting before going ahead with the heavy weapons pullback, as rebels ignored the ceasefire last week.

Overnight on Tuesday, there was relatively little fighting between the two sides, which gives rise to cautious optimism that the Minsk peace accord may be starting to take hold. Officials in Kyiv said on Wednesday that no government troops were killed in fighting in the last 24 hours. This was the first entire day without a deadly casualty since the ceasefire went into effect on February 15.

mz/sms (Reuters, AFP, AP)