people were killed in a gunfight in the early hours
of Sunday near a Ukrainian city controlled by pro-
Russian separatists, shaking an already fragile
international accord that was designed to avert a
wider conflict.
The incident triggered a war of words between
Moscow and Ukraine's western-backed
government with each questioning the other's
compliance with the agreement, brokered last
week in Geneva, to end a crisis that has made
Russia's ties with the West more fraught than at any time since the Cold War.
The separatists said armed men from Ukraine's
Right Sector nationalist group had attacked them.
The Right Sector denied any role, saying Russian
special forces were behind the clash.
Failure of the Geneva agreement could bring more
bloodshed in eastern Ukraine, but may also prompt
the United States to impose tougher sanctions on
the Kremlin - with far-reaching consequences for
many economies and importers of Russian energy.
The deal signed in Geneva last week by the
European Union, Russia, Ukraine and the United
States agreed that illegal armed groups would go
home in a process to be overseen by Europe's OSCE
security watchdog.
So far, the pro-Russian militants have shown little
sign of budging from public buildings in the east,
though there was some hope of progress after Kiev
said it would not move against the separatists over
Easter, and international mediators headed to
eastern Ukraine to try to persuade them to disarm.
Local media reports that one occupied town hall
near the city of Donetsk had been vacated and was
again flying a Ukrainian flag prompted the U.S.
ambassador to Kiev to speak of progress.
But OSCE
monitors cautioned that it would take time. And the shootings near Slaviansk - already a
flashpoint for tensions between Ukraine's rival
camps - are likely to make that task even harder,
hardening the view of the many Russian-speakers
in eastern Ukraine that they cannot trust Kiev.
"The Easter truce has been violated," the Russian
foreign ministry said in a statement. "This
provocation ... testifies to the lack of will on the part
of the Kiev authorities to rein in and disarm
nationalists and extremists."
The town's self-appointed pro-Russia mayor placed
a curfew on the town and appealed directly to
Russia's Vladimir Putin to consider sending in
peacekeeping troops - an outcome Ukraine tried to
avoid by holding back its poorly resourced forces.
Ukraine's SBU security service accused Moscow
agents of a faking a "cynical provocation" at
Slaviansk and the foreign ministry hit back,
reproaching Russia for rushing to judgment and
failing to meet its part of the deal struck in Geneva: "The Russian side must be reminded about their
obligations under the Geneva agreement to bring
all necessary influence to bear on separatists to
clear illegally held buildings, unblock roads, lay
down arms and prevent any bloodshed," it said.
Right Sector spokesman Artem Skoropadsky said it
was a "blasphemous provocation from Russia:
blasphemous because it took place on a holy night
for Christians, on Easter night.
Police in Kiev said three men among the separatists
were killed and three wounded.
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