(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The Ukrainian government is preparing for war with pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country in defiance of ongoing peace talks in Berlin.
At a ceremony yesterday near Zhytomyr in the north of the former Soviet republic, Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko delivered fighter jets, howitzers and armoured personnel carriers to the military.
"I am convinced that 2015 will be the year of our victory," the pro-West head of state said. "In order to achieve that, we need a strong, patriotic and well-equipped army."
Poroshenko's move is in direct contravention of a previous ceasefire agreed at the beginning of September in the Belarusian capital Minsk, where both sides in the conflict agreed to withdraw heavy weaponry.
Diplomats from Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France were in Berlin yesterday to discuss the implementation of the Minsk accord.
Poroshenko still plans to attend talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on January 15 in Kazakhstan. French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel also plan to attend these talks.
Ukrainian and Russian representatives had expressed their doubts for any progress ahead of the Berlin talks.
Ukrainian diplomat Alexei Makeyev pointed out that the Minsk accord had been interpreted differently by each side.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said there were many points of contention between the parties, but that Moscow was prepared to hold a "constructive dialogue" and had sent the diplomat Viktor Sorokin to the German capital as its representative.
German government spokesman Steffen Seibert was vague on the prospects for an agreement in Berlin, saying he was unable to say if or when it would happen.
Merkel is due to meet Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk in Berlin on Thursday, while Hollande told the broadcaster France Inter the Kazakh summit should only take place if there was progress in Berlin, otherwise it was pointless.
Russian politician Aleksey Pushkov, who heads the foreign affairs committee of the State Duma in Moscow, said via Twitter that Merkel was losing her role as Russia's most influential negotiating partner to Hollande because of her hard stance on Ukraine.
Meanwhile, in the war-torn eastern Ukrainian Donbass region, government forces and pro-Russian insurgents accused each other of violating the ceasefire.
During the night, a device exploded outside an office building in the Black Sea port of Odessa, causing damage to property but no injuries. The blast was the latest in a series to hit such offices in the volatile Black Sea port. Police are still investigating a similar incident that struck another centre on December 23.
The scenic city has been tense since a May 2 clash between Kiev and Moscow supporters caused a fire that killed nearly 50 pro-Russian activists.
Russia accused the local police and fire department of siding with the Kiev government sympathisers and refusing to help the pro-Russians trapped inside a burning building in which they had taken shelter.
Both federal and local authorities deny the charges. Yet an investigation into the incident is still ongoing and no officials - to the Kremlin's great anger - have been charged.
The volatile atmosphere in Odessa prompted Kiev to dispatch a National Guard unit into the city on Saturday.
The rebel uprising has killed more than 4,700 people since April and has seen both Kiev and its Western allies blame Putin for stoking the revolt.
Moscow denies the charge and in turn accuses Washington of financing waves of pro-European protests in Kiev last winter that resulted in the February fall of a Kremlin-backed president and the subsequent onset of the eastern revolt.
A new partial truce agreed on December 9 - along with the snowy winter weather - has helped stem the deadliest fighting in the separatist regions in recent weeks.
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