International efforts to save Ukraine´s fragile ceasefire are set to intensify today as Kiev threatens to scrap the truce after pro-Russian rebels downed an army helicopter.
Nine servicemen were killed when the Mi-8 helicopter was brought down Tuesday, underscoring the limited control both Russia and senior rebel leaders seem to have over some militia units that are apparently operating according to their own rules in Ukraine´s heavily Russified rustbelt.
It also threatens to quash budding hopes that Ukraine´s Western-backed President Petro Poroshenko — having ordered a one-week unilateral ceasefire on Friday that the rebels accepted on Monday — will be able to negotiate an end to 11 weeks of violence that have claimed 435 lives, according to UN figures and an AFP count.
Poroshenko said he hoped to discuss the latest incident with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a teleconference Wednesday that would also be joined by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande.
