UN Disintegration > Trump targets three UN Agencies; Israel Quits UNHRC; Argentina begins procedures to pull out of the WHO

 

Trump targets ‘anti-American’ UN agencies

The US president has ordered the withdrawal of the US from the Human Rights Council and suspended financial support for the Palestinian refugee agency

FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump. ©  Rebecca Noble / Getty Images

US President Donald Trump has taken action against UN agencies that his administration claims exhibit anti-American bias and propagate “anti-Semitism,” in an executive order signed on Tuesday. Trump's initiative comes after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House. 

The US president has ordered the country's withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and prohibited funding the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). He has also ordered a State department review of US participation in the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The three bodies have drifted from the UN’s core mission of promoting peace, and instead “act contrary to the interests of the United States while attacking our allies and propagating anti-Semitism,” the document claimed.

West Jerusalem has accused the UNHRC and UNESCO of anti-Israeli bias when handling cases related to Palestinian rights and cultural heritage. It also alleged that UNRWA employees took part in the October 2023 surprise attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, which resulted in Israel responding with a 15-month military campaign – currently paused under a UN-brokered ceasefire.

Read more

 US will ‘take over’ Gaza – Trump

The UNRWA, established in 1949 to assist Palestinians displaced in the Arab-Israeli conflict, has denied these allegations. Trump’s order insists that the UNRWA has been “infiltrated” by terrorists and echoes Israeli claims that the group was involved in the Hamas incursion.

During a signing ceremony in the Oval Office, Trump said the UN has “tremendous potential” that merits continued US support, provided that its leaders “get their act together.” He stressed that the UN must be “fair to countries that deserve fairness,” without naming any nations. Trump also suggested that the US makes a disproportionate contribution to the UN budget. The UN system is primarily funded by member states based on their gross national incomes.

Read more

 Trump plans withdrawal from Syria – media

The first Trump administration pulled the US out of the UNHRC and defunded the UNRWA in 2018. In 2021, President Joe Biden reversed these actions during his term in office.

Speaking alongside Netanyahu on Tuesday, Trump announced that the US will “take over” and “own” Gaza and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.” He reiterated his position that the Palestinians should be permanently resettled elsewhere, which critics argue would amount to the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian enclave.

The UN estimates that over 90% of homes in Gaza have been destroyed or seriously damaged in the latest escalation of violence, resulting in the displacement of an overwhelming majority of the local population, or around 1.9 million people. On Monday, the local authorities updated the death toll in the enclave to over 61,700, saying they now presume thousands of missing individuals to be dead.

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Israel quits UN human rights council over ‘discrimination’

The move follows Washington’s withdrawal from the UNHRC

FILE PHOTO. A meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. ©  Global Look Press / Xinhua / Lian Yi

Israel has pledged to withdraw from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), hours after the departure of the United States from the body. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has accused the council of attacking a democratic country and propagating anti-Semitism.

In a statement posted on X, the top diplomat criticized the UNHRC for allegedly disproportionately targeting Israel while paying less attention to human rights violations in other countries.

The council “obsessively demonizes the one democracy in the Middle East—Israel,” Saar wrote, adding that “Israel will not accept this discrimination any longer!”

Israel is the only nation with a permanent agenda item in the council and has faced over 100 condemnatory resolutions, more than 20% of all resolutions passed, surpassing those against Iran, Cuba, North Korea, and Venezuela combined, he said.

Israel’s announcement follows Washington’s withdrawal from the UNHRC on Tuesday. US President Donald Trump also left the body during his first term in 2018. Announcing the move, Trump also pledged to reevaluate Washington’s relationship with other UN agencies over their stance on Israel and alleged anti-American bias.

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Argentina to exit WHO membership after Trump again withdraws U.S.

By Chris Benson

On Wednesday, a government spokesman stated that Argentine President Javier Milei (seen in New York City in Sept. 2024) directed Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein to initiate steps "to withdraw Argentina’s participation" in WHO. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 5 (UPI) -- Argentina will follow the United States by pulling out of the World Health Organization.

A government spokesman said Wednesday that Argentine President Javier Milei directed Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein to initiate steps "to withdraw Argentina's participation" in WHO.

He claimed it was over "deep differences regarding health management especially during the [COVID-19] pandemic."

Reports say Milei is expected to sign an executive order for the withdrawal in the coming days.

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"We Argentinians will not allow an international organization to intervene in our sovereignty, much less in our health," presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni said at a news conference.

Milei, a far-right libertarian often compared to U.S. President Donald Trump, is a known friend and ally of his American counterpart.

Trump originally cut ties with the U.N.-backed WHO in May 2020 while the United States was in the throes of COVID-19, which killed an estimated 7 million people globally.

WHO works in more than 150 locations around the world and has directed international responses to health emergencies from Ebola to yellow fever and cholera.

"Today, evidence suggests that the WHO's prescriptions don't work because they are the result of political influence rather than being based on science," a statement by Milei's office in Bueno Aires read.

Trump, meanwhile, cited a perceived "mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states" for why he once more pulled the United States out.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote in an email to staff members how the United States leaving "has made our financial situation more acute." He said he regrets Trump's decision, adding that the United States gained from its membership.

Milei was the first world leader to meet with Trump at his Florida estate after November's election, and he attended the Jan. 20 inauguration in Washington -- the same day Trump announced the United States will withdraw from WHO.

According to Adorni, WHO membership costs Argentina about $10 million annually. He claimed that leaving it behind will provide the South American country a greater flexibility to better serve its own interests.

WHO was created in 1948 by the global community "to coordinate the response to global health emergencies, but it failed during the biggest challenge," the statement read in part. "It advocated eternal lockdowns without scientific backing during its battle against the COVID-19 pandemic."

Meanwhile, Milei's spokesman did not rule out Argentina possibly exiting other treaties or international agreements, such as the Paris climate accord.

"The president is very determined when it comes to making Argentina freer," Adorni added Wednesday. "So any link that Argentina has with bodies that go against its freedoms, we're going to do our utmost to prevent them from interfering in the lives of Argentines."

Military Madness > Russia enters Ukraine; The disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan; Finland buys $9.4 bn worth of F-35s

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Putin recognizes Donetsk & Lugansk then orders troops into them on 'peacekeeping mission'

By RACHAEL BUNYAN and NICK CRAVEN IN KIEV FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 16:58 EST, 21 February 2022 | UPDATED: 17:11 EST, 21 February 2022

Vladimir Putin has ordered his troops to enter Ukraine on a 'peacekeeping mission' after he officially recognised the country's eastern regions as independent states - a move that will pave the way for a long-feared Russian invasion of Kiev.

Mail Online is exaggerating the threat to Kiev here. This appears to be very similar to the takeover of Crimea. I would be surprised if Putin wanted any more than the two breakaway regions. 

The Russian President ordered his defence ministry to despatch Russian peacekeepers to eastern Ukraine's two breakaway regions - the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and the Lugansk People's Republic - according to a decree signed by Putin recognising their independence.   

Moscow provided no details or date for any deployment, with the order saying only that it 'comes into force from the day it was signed'. 

Recognising the rebel regions' independence effectively shatters the Minsk peace agreements and opens the door for Russia to sign treaties with the 'states' and openly send troops and weapons there to defend them against Ukrainian 'threats'.

The move fuels further tension with the West and narrows the diplomatic options available to avoid war, since it is an explicit rejection of a seven-year-old ceasefire mediated by France and Germany, still touted as the framework for any future negotiations on the wider crisis.  

A framework that Ukraine never proceeded to build upon.

The Kremlin said that upon hearing that Putin will sign the order to recognise the independence of eastern Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had 'expressed disappointment' over the decision in phone calls with the Russian President.  

Mr Johnson said Putin's decision to recognise the two separatist Ukrainian republics was in breach of international law and an 'ill omen' and 'dark sign' that things are moving in the wrong while UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the move would not go 'unpunished' as she announced new sanctions on Russia. 

The EU's top officials also said they will impose sanctions, while the U.S. has ordered sanctions which will prohibit new investment, trade and financing in the two separatist regions of Ukraine recognised by Putin. 

Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg also condemned Putin, accusing Russia of 'trying to stage a pretext to invade Ukraine yet again'.

Earlier, Putin vowed to decide 'today' whether to recognise Ukraine's eastern regions as independent states. He made the remark at the end of an hours-long security council meeting that was broadcast on Russian TV during which the country's top security officials were called up one by one and asked to lay out the case for war - seemingly aimed at persuading a skeptical public of the need to attack. 

Having spent days staging what are widely believed to be false flag attacks on Ukrainian soil and blaming them on Kiev, ministers presented the 'evidence' to Putin today: Claiming Russians in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions are under threat of 'genocide', that no peace deal can save them, and that he must intervene to save lives. 

But in evidence that the entire spectacle was being staged - with the West warning a decision to invade has already been made - eagle-eyed viewers noticed that defence minister Sergei Shoigu's watch was five hours behind Moscow time, suggesting the hearing was pre-recorded. 

All eyes will now turn to Ukraine's border regions for evidence that Russian troops have crossed, after videos published earlier in the day showed tanks and armoured vehicles in 'battle formations' - some of them less than three miles from the frontier. 

Dymtro Kuleba, Ukraine's defence minister, said after the council meeting that 'the entire world' will watch what Russia does next and that 'everyone realises the consequences' if Putin vows to recognise the breakaway regions. 'We all should calmly focus on de-escalation efforts, [there is] no other way,' he tweeted. 

It comes as two Ukrainian soldiers died on Monday and three were wounded in a shelling attack in Zaitseve, a village 18 miles north of the rebel stronghold Donetsk, Ukraine's national police said. 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who had a phone call with Putin this evening, warned him that recognising the eastern regions would be a 'one-sided' breach of peace negotiations and that he has a 'responsibility' to de-escalate tensions by removing troops from the border. 

Meanwhile Joe Biden called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and convened a meeting of his National Security team after Putin slammed the U.S. for 'colonizing' Ukraine and using it as a 'puppet regime' in televised remarks before signing the decree.  

Pentagon names culprits behind disastrous Afghan withdrawal

US military points finger at President Joe Biden and other top officials for interfering

in evacuation Pentagon names culprits behind disastrous Afghan withdrawal

Taliban fighters guarding their new US-made aircraft after American troops leave

© Getty Images / Marcus Yam

The Pentagon’s exhaustive report on the haphazard US departure from Afghanistan has revealed many on the ground blamed constant meddling by American VIPs for “distracting” them from what needed to be done, creating the chaotic scenes that shocked observers at home.

According to the 2,000 page report, obtained by the Washington Post via the Freedom of Information Act request earlier this week, the senior officers in charge of the evacuation were even forced to change plans because of the nonstop interference from afar. The report includes numerous interviews, including testimony regarding the suicide bombing outside the airport that killed 170 Afghans and 13 Americans just days before they were supposed to leave Afghanistan for good after the longest war in US history.

“You had everyone from the White House down with a new flavor of the day for prioritization,” Rear Admiral Peter Vasely, the senior US figure in Kabul at the time of the evacuation, told the military interviewer. And it wasn’t just President Biden calling in favors, either – First Lady Jill Biden, members of Congress, journalists, and even the Vatican all weighed in on who needed rescuing the most, according to the rear admiral.

Having spent 13.5 years in the military, you would think I would know something about Military Intelligence. Apparently not! For the ranking military officer in Afghanistan was a Rear Admiral. Afghanistan is, of course, a land-locked country, so why they would put a Naval Officer in charge makes no sense to me. 

“I cannot stress enough how these high-profile requests ate up bandwidth and created competition for already-stressed resources,” Vasely continued, noting that he could “only speculate” regarding whether the confusion and chaos that resulted caused some Americans and friendly Afghans to be left behind.

With thousands of phone calls, texts, and emails descending on Kabul during the 17-day evacuation, Vasely said he had no choice but to pull personnel from other operations to form a “coordination cell” able to process all the communications. 

Social media, he said, only made things worse – giving people the ability to campaign for the military to rescue not just specific people, but specific dogs. 

Again, why allow communications from anyone other than your immediate superior to affect your operation is beyond me. They should all have been referred to the Pentagon where they had the personnel to deal with them.

While Biden insisted with less than a week to go before the US had promised to depart that no American who wanted to leave would be left behind, it soon became obvious that getting everyone out by August 31st would not be possible, and the administration reportedly considered extending the deadline into September – only to be met with a “visceral response” from the Taliban, who were effectively in charge of the country by that point.

The initial plan had been to evacuate American citizens, then lawful permanent residents, and finally Afghans who had helped the Americans during the two-decade occupation of their country. Military leaders had urged the White House and State Department to sign off on evacuation preparations weeks in advance, but complained the stateside authorities had “failed to grasp” the Taliban’s rapid progress toward Kabul, believing they had more time than they actually did.

Apparently, they were not aware of the lightning-like ISIS take-over of much of Syria and Iraq.

However, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has defended the administration’s sluggish response, insisting the National Security Council had been meeting on the topic of withdrawing from Afghanistan for “months,” plotting out responses to various crises – except the one that actually occurred. They couldn’t possibly have foreseen how easily the Afghan security forces would be vanquished by the Taliban, she said. 

They could have, but for their arrogance.

While the exact number of US citizens left behind vacillated between 100 and 450 depending on when one asked the State Department, a White House official who spoke to the Post believes every American who wanted to leave Afghanistan has had a chance to do so.

It’s not clear whether the Pentagon’s report also included statistics on how many of the Afghans who assisted the Americans in the war effort made it out of the country. Many attracted the unwanted attention of the Taliban when the Biden administration handed out a list of their names to the fundamentalist group so that they could be allowed through the perimeter to the airport. A Pentagon official told Politico at the time that the administration had effectively handed the Taliban a “kill list,” noting the group’s reputation for doing away with their countrymen who assisted the Americans.

I am not aware of anyone on that list having been killed. If you are, please inform me.

Finland makes massive military investment with US

Helsinki signs a deal for 64 US-built F-35 stealth jets, at a reported cost of $9.4 billion

Two Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning (FILE PHOTO)

© Photo by Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images

Finland has penned a multibillion-dollar deal with the US to purchase 64 American-built F-35 fighter jets, the Finnish Defense Forces announced on Friday. The radar-evading warplanes will reportedly cost the European country, which is traditionally militarily non-aligned, some $9.4 billion.

The aircraft will not enter service for some years, with Finnish officials previously saying deployment of the planes would begin in 2027. The new jets are being brought in to replace Finland’s current Hornet fleet.

In addition to the 64 planes, the deal sees American defense contractor Lockheed Martin providing maintenance equipment, spare parts, and training services, the Finnish Defence Forces said in a statement. 

“The aim is to ensure that Finland’s F-35 system has the best possible performance going into the 2030s,” the statement added.

Mikko Hautala, Finland’s ambassador to the US, said the purchase was not linked to the current tensions between neighboring Russia and the West. “It is part of our long-term planning and has nothing to do with the current situation as such,” Hautala stated.

In selecting the F-35, Finland rejected alternative options from other planemakers including Dassault Rafale of France and Eurofighter Typhoon in the UK. 

The country remained strategically neutral during the Cold War but has strengthened ties with the West in recent years. In January, Prime Minister Sanna Marin said the government had no plans to join NATO, but would retain the right to join if it so wishes.

Finland was forced to cede territory, including parts of Karelia, Salla, and Kuusamo, to the Soviet Union in the so-called Winter War of 1939-40. Lands and cities such as Vyborg, historically claimed by Finland, now sit in Russia.

Islam - Current Day > As America and Australia Pull Out of Afghanistan, The Taliban Surge Across the Country

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As Taliban reaches Tajikistan border, Russia says it's ready &

prepared to defend its close ally against Islamist terrorist group

9 Jul, 2021 14:07 

FILE PHOTO. Russian servicemen performing during the events on the occasion of the 70th anniversary

of the 201st Russian military base deployed in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. © Sputnik

The Russian Foreign Ministry has revealed that Moscow is ready to interfere in the situation on the Tajik-Afghan border, noting that it will defend its allies against any possible incursion over the frontier by the Taliban.

Speaking at a briefing on Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova revealed that two-thirds of the border is already under the control of the group, designated by Moscow as a terrorist organization.

Russia and Tajikistan are both members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a mutual defensive pact consisting of six former republics of the Soviet Union.

According to Zakharova, Russia's 201st military base in Tajikistan is equipped with everything required to defend the country.

“If necessary, additional measures will be taken to prevent provocations and aggravation of the situation,” she said.

The situation arose in Afghanistan following the reduction of US military presence in the country. As per Washington’s plan, Kabul and the Taliban were set to agree on a transitional government before the formation of a more permanent setup. Neither side has been willing to compromise, and now the Taliban has made territorial gains in the country’s north, on the Tajik border.

Zakharova also noted that there have been multiple occasions of Afghan government forces crossing over the border with Tajikistan to escape gunfire.

“We call on the opposing sides of the inter-Afghan conflict to show restraint and avoid the spread of tensions beyond the country's borders,” she said.

Earlier on Friday, a top Russian CSTO official told RT that Tajikistan and its allies would repel any possible Taliban incursion from neighboring Afghanistan, with Moscow ready to help.

“We’ve seen the Taliban's outposts. At least for now, we see no aggression coming from [them],” General Colonel Anatoly Sidorov said. “They are not hiding at all. It appears the situation is fairly peaceful on the [Afghan] side.”

India pulls diplomats from Afghanistan’s second-largest city

as Taliban boast rapid territorial gains

11 Jul, 2021 14:01

Afghan security forces stand guard in Kandahar on July 9, 2021. ©  AFP / JAVED TANVEER

India has temporarily withdrawn personnel from its consulate in Kandahar as the Taliban continue to consolidate control over territory around the southern Afghan city.

A special aircraft operated by the Indian Air Force was reportedly dispatched on Saturday to retrieve around 50 diplomats and security forces from Afghanistan’s second-largest city. 

India’s foreign ministry said in a statement that Indian nationals working at the consulate had been “brought back for the time being” due to “intense fighting” near Kandahar city. The ministry stressed that the consulate would continue to operate with the assistance of local staff members and that the decision to withdraw its diplomats was “a purely temporary measure until the situation stabilizes.”

On Friday, Taliban forces entered the outskirts of Kandahar city, the capital of the province of the same name, seizing houses and buildings as they battled Afghan troops. The insurgent group has captured districts surrounding the city as part of a large-scale offensive that was launched as the US military began to accelerate its withdrawal from Afghanistan in May. 

The Afghan government has deployed special forces units, as well as the country’s air force, in an attempt to push back the Taliban assault. 

The militants now claim to control 85% of Afghanistan’s territory, a figure that Kabul has dismissed as propaganda. However, some of the group’s territorial gains are beyond dispute. Earlier this week, Taliban fighters captured two major border crossings with neighboring Iran and Turkmenistan. It’s also believed that the insurgents control approximately two-thirds of Afghanistan’s border with Tajikistan. Moscow has signaled that it is ready to help protect Tajikistan in the event of a Taliban incursion into the country. 

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has defended his administration’s decision to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan, promising that the United States would not “walk away” from Kabul as it tries to keep the Taliban at bay. 

The Americans have spent a decade and a half training Afghan troops to defend their country. Yet, the Taliban seem to be able to do what they want. America can't possibly abandon Afghanistan again, can they?

Australia completes full withdrawal from Afghanistan,

leaving behind trail of war crime allegations

11 Jul, 2021 09:50

  An Australian soldier on board a C-130 military airplane prepares for landing during a flight

from Kabul to Kandahar on July 31, 2010. ©  AFP / Yuri Cortez

Australia has confirmed the end of its military involvement in Afghanistan, as the US-led coalition accelerates its exit from the war-torn nation. Canberra’s role in the 20-year conflict has been sullied by war crime allegations.

Defense Minister Peter Dutton announced on Sunday that over the past several weeks, Australia had pulled 80 support personnel from Afghanistan, formally ending the country’s military presence there. Canberra said in April that it would follow Washington’s lead by pledging to remove its remaining troops by September. 

Dutton noted Australia was ready to join the US in future military operations that are deemed to be “in our national interest or in the interest of our allies.”

“For now, though, that campaign has come to an end,” the defense minister said. 

Australia mobilized some 39,000 troops over the past two decades as part of the US-led military intervention in Afghanistan. Forty-one Australian service members were killed during the war, which eventually became a dragged-out stalemate with the Taliban. Canberra withdrew the bulk of its forces from Afghanistan in 2013. 

“This war is ending, not with victory, not with defeat, but with hope that Afghanistan is a better place,” then-Prime Minister Tony Abbott said at the time. 

Good luck with that Tony. 

While Australia’s involvement in the drawn-out war has officially come to an end, in recent months the country has begun to grapple with claims of alleged war crimes carried out by its troops. 

In December, a four-year investigation commissioned by the government found evidence that Australian troops committed dozens of murders in Afghanistan. However, the report determined that responsibility for the alleged crimes “does not extend to higher headquarters.”

Of course not! The buck stops in the junior ranks, it appears.

Canberra later apologized to Kabul for the “misconduct” detailed in the explosive report. 

Since then, other gruesome allegations have come to light as the result of a defamation case against several Australian media outlets brought by a special forces soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith. Newspaper reports allege that Roberts-Smith gruesomely murdered six Afghan men during his tour of duty, and then engaged in other illegal behavior to cover up the killings. Australian media outlets claim that, among other alleged crimes, Roberts-Smith killed an unarmed farmer whose hands had been handcuffed behind him, by kicking the civilian over a cliff and ordering another soldier to shoot him. The Aussie soldier has denied the claims.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has defended Washington’s withdrawal from the country, dismissing concerns of a Taliban takeover of Kabul. He vowed that the United States won’t “walk away” from Afghanistan, suggesting that the US could continue military aid to the country. The insurgent group has scored a string of victories over the past several weeks, reportedly seizing more than a dozen districts across the country. 

The funny thing is, no one in Afghanistan wants the Taliban in control, except the Taliban. They destroy almost everything good about Afghan society with their Sharia Law.

Ukraine - Rebels to Withdraw More Weapons

I met with friends tonight who just returned from eastern Europe. They met some Ukrainians who told them that they were nervous and that they kept a bag packed at all times. Seems like maybe they don't trust Putin. Can't imagine why.

Ukrainian soldiers

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to call for the withdrawal of more types of weapons in Ukraine's east, as fresh clashes renew fears for a truce there.

The deal was made at talks in Berlin involving foreign ministers from the two countries, and France and Germany.

It reportedly covers mortars, tanks and heavy weapons below 100mm calibre.

But Germany warned the talks had also emphasised differences over the year-old conflict between Ukraine's military and pro-Russian rebels.

"It was again a very long, very intensive discussion which in parts was very controversial," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.

"During these talks today the differences of opinion between Kiev and Moscow also became clear once again."

But, he added, all parties had also reaffirmed the commitment to a ceasefire agreed in February in the Belarussian capital, Minsk.

Both sides are largely thought to have adhered to the deal - until a recent escalation of fighting in the flashpoints of Donetsk airport and Shyrokyne village, on the outskirts of the strategic town of Mariupol.

A joint final statement by the ministers in Berlin expressed "concern" at the escalation.

Rebel tanks in Luhansk
The heavily armed rebels made territorial gains in the run-up to the ceasefire

"What is decisive is that in light of the worsening situation, we agreed today not only to continue with the withdrawal of heavy weapons but also to include other categories of weapons in the withdrawal," Mr Steinmeier said.

"Now, tanks, armoured vehicles, mortars and heavy weapons below a 100 mm (3.94 inches) calibre will be included in the withdrawal commitment."

Both Ukraine and the rebels claim to have withdrawn heavy weapons from the line of contact, although sporadic shelling has continued.

Ukraine, Western leaders and Nato say there is clear evidence that Russia has helped the rebels with troops and heavy weapons. Russia denies that, insisting that any Russians on the rebel side are "volunteers".

More than 6,000 people have been killed in clashes since the rebels seized large parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions last April - a month after Russia annexed Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula.