Free Republic

The leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Alexander Zakharchenko has called an emergency meeting Sunday regarding the violation of silence regime in Donbas by Kiev forces, the deputy head of DPR militia said. "The head of the Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko has called an emergency meeting at which the current situation is being discussed," Eduard Basurin said. Eduard Basurin said that at 02:00 (February 14, 23:00 GMT) armed groups of Kiev militants in the town of Debaltseve have opened fire targeting the positions of LPR and DPR. “In order to avoid civilian casualties, the units of DPR...

KYIV, September 8 /Ukrinform/. The self-declared “DPR” stops a process of exchange of captives since it says that it has not received a list of captured militants. This is said on the website of terrorists. “There are fears that we will release everyone, and Kyiv will try to cheat,” acting “minister of state security” of the “DPR” Leonid Baranov said. Due to this, the “DPR” is not planning to release about 1,000 Ukrainian military in order not to become, as they allege, “victims of fraud.”

KYIV, September 8 /Ukrinform/. Russian soldiers and militants conducted active actions near Mariupol and Donetsk since yesterday's evening. Head of the Information Resistance group Dmytro Tymchuk said about this on his page on Facebook. “Since the yesterday's (7.09.2014) evening, the enemy conducted active actions in the area of Mariupol, Donetsk, Debaltseve,” he wrote. In addition, Tymchuk informed that Russian military and terrorists fired positions and roadblocks of Ukrainian military with the use of small arms, mortars and grenade launchers in the area of inhabited localities of Zhdanivka, Zolote, Nyzhnia Krynka, Fashchivka.

Pro-Russian rebels and the Ukrainian military accused each other on Saturday of breaking a tenuous Kremlin-backed truce only hours after it came into force across the war-battered east.

KYIV, September 6 /Ukrinform/. Militants have shelled the positions of the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) forces 28 times over the last 24 hours, including ten after a bilateral ceasefire was declared in Minsk.

V ladimir Putin's spokesman has denied that the Russian president and Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko agreed on a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, saying that Russia is not a party to the conflict there. Dmitry Peskov was speaking after Poroshenko's office said in a statement that the two leaders, in a telephone conversation, had reached agreement on a permanent cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists are fighting government forces. Peskov said Putin and Poroshenko "did discuss steps which would contribute to a cease-fire." However, he said, "Russia cannot agree on a cease-fire as it is not a participant in the...

<p>Ukrainian president says he has agreed with Russia's President Putin on "permanent ceasefire" in east of country.</p>

Announced just now on Bloomberg TV as breaking news. Several Tweets just now breaking say it was announced by Poroshenko's "Presidential Press Service Moments ago. More as it comes.... CNBC now announcing it on their TWitter, as well: https://twitter.com/CNBCWorld

Ukraine rebels pull back from independence demands at cease-fire talks MOSCOW – Pro-Russian rebels softened their demand for full independence Monday, saying they would respect Ukraine's sovereignty in exchange for autonomy -- a shift that reflects Moscow's desire to strike a deal at a new round of peace talks. The insurgents' platform, released at the start of Monday's negotiations in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, represented a significant change in their vision for the future of Ukraine's eastern, mainly Russian-speaking region. It remains unclear, however, whether the talks can reach a compromise amid the brutal fighting that has continued in eastern...

Israel is claiming victory in the 50-day war with Hamas, which temporarily ended in a ceasefire that went into force Tuesday. "We were victorious in the negotiation phase,” said Liran Dan, Head of the National Information Directorate in the Prime Minister's Office, in an interview with IDF Radio Wednesday. “The military blow that the IDF dealt Hamas – the hardest it has experienced since it was founded – was heavy and meaningful. What we saw is that in a prolonged and well executed campaign, Hamas suffered a harsh military blow and damage to the most heavily constructed arrays it built.”...

The first night of the ceasefire was peacefully quiet: no violations were reported on the part of either side. .....

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Israel and Hamas agreed Tuesday to an open-ended cease-fire, halting a seven-week war that killed more than 2,200 people, the vast majority Palestinians, left tens of thousands in Gaza homeless and devastated entire neighborhoods in the blockaded territory. Hamas declared victory and bursts of celebratory gunfire erupted across Gaza, but the terms of the deal fell far short of Hamas' demand that Israel and Egypt open Gaza's borders. Under the Egyptian-brokered deal, Israel is to ease imports into Gaza, including aid and material for reconstruction. It also allows Palestinians to fish six nautical miles...

GAZA CITY — Hamas leaders said Tuesday afternoon that Egypt had brokered a long-term cease-fire after 50 days of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, though Israeli officials would not say whether they had actually accepted the conditions.

Terrorist factions in Gaza are apparently split once again over the possibility of accepting an Egyptian ceasefire proposal, with Hamas stubbornly refusing to accept it and at least two Islamic Jihad leaders claiming a truce will come into effect imminently. Islamic Jihad official Khaled al-Battash told interviewers a ceasefire would be coming into effect "within hours", along the same basis as the ceasefire following Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012, as outlined by an Egyptian proposal. The truce deal would include provisions for the rehabilitation of Gaza after a month and a half of fierce fighting, as well as an...

Egypt on Saturday called for an open-ended cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, urging Israel and Hamas to return to indirect talks after seven weeks of fighting punctuated by a number of failed truce attempts. The call from the foreign ministry came shortly after Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo. Egyptian officials did not say how they expected renewed talks to produce a different outcome after repeated failures. …

The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday urged Israel and the Palestinian Arabs to return to the negotiating table to quickly agree on a lasting truce in Gaza. In a unanimously adopted statement quoted by AFP, the 15-member council "offered full support to the Egyptian initiative and called upon the parties to resume negotiations to urgently reach a sustainable and lasting ceasefire." The statement drafted by France was agreed after negotiations in Cairo teetered on the verge of collapse amid a fresh flare-up of violence. The measure fell short of a full resolution, but diplomats signaled they would be ready...

Hamas declared on Tuesday night that Israel had “opened the gates of hell”. In a statement, the group’s so-called “military wing” said that it had resumed the rocket fire on Israel because the Israeli Air Force had launched an airstrike on a home in Gaza. The group warned that “the price will be a heavy one”. Senior Hamas official Ezzat al-Rishq warned, according to AFP, "Israel will not enjoy security so long as the Palestinian people do not, and it started it." While the latest truce between Israel and Hamas was set to end at midnight on Tuesday, Hamas violated...

JERUSALEM - Hamas reportedly rejected a comprehensive, 11-clause long term ceasefire proposal on Saturday. Egypt has warned that this proposal will be its final effort to secure a lasting end to the Israel-Gaza conflict. According to details leaked by Egyptian newspaper al-Shorouk, the 11-clause proposal contained several key concessions to the Palestinian delegation, including the opening of border crossings between Israel and Gaza, the elimination of the so-called "buffer zones" along the Israel-Gaza border, the extension of the fishing zone to 12 miles off the Gazan coast, and the assistance of Israel and the Palestinian Authority in rebuilding the infrastructure...

Hamas has sounded a belligerent tone as negotiations for a long-term truce continue in Cairo. In a message posted on his Facebook page, Hamas's "foreign affairs" chief Osama Hamdan said the Islamist terror group rejects the current Egyptian proposal, and pledged a "long war" of attrition against Israel. "Israel must accept the demands of the Palestinian people or face a long war," he said. Other Hamas officials issued similar statements over the course of Saturday. .....

Hamas already breached the last 72-hour ceasefire three hours ahead of its conclusion Wednesday at midnight; on Thursday morning it proved that it does not intend to honor the newly achieved five-day ceasefire either. Rocket warning sirens were sounded just after 10 a.m. on Thursday in the Eshkol Regional Council and Hof Ashkelon region, as well in the Kerem Shalom area. Shortly afterwards it was reported that a rocket fell in open ground in the Eshkol Regional Council, causing no injuries or damage. The attack comes after Hamas fired at least one rocket at the Hof Ashkelon region on Wednesday...