Fresh Soldier Deaths Rattles Ukraine Truce

Ukraine said on Friday three soldiers had been killed, the first fatalities in several days in the war-torn east, as a shaky truce with pro-Russian rebels appeared to gain some traction with an apparent weapons pull-back.

Isolated skirmishes highlighted the fragile situation as the U.N. discussed the conflict exactly one year after Russia and pro-Moscow forces began seizing ports and cities on the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.

Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said the fighting had halted along most of the frontline but there were still clashes in villages around the ruins of Donetsk airport, one of the most fought-over prizes in the conflict, which fell to the rebels last month.

Russia's annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine sparked the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War.

A year on, the West is hoping the U.N.-backed truce deal negotiated by Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France in Minsk earlier this month can prevent a further escalation.

After an initial setback, caused by a rebel assault on the transport hub of Debaltseve, the deal appeared to be gaining traction this week.

Both sides said they were continuing to withdraw heavy weapons from along the frontline, a key part of the plan to end ten months of bloodshed in eastern Ukraine that has cost at least 5,800 lives.

Kiev said Thursday that it had started withdrawing 100-mm cannons, while the rebels claim they had nearly completed their pull-back.

Monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), however, told AFP that while they had seen weapon movements on both sides it was too early to confirm that a full withdrawal was taking place.

An AFP photographer on Friday saw monitors inspecting around two dozen Ukrainian artillery pieces, which were then towed in the direction leading away from the frontline.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko cautioned Friday that the withdrawal was "just a first, test step".

"At any moment our soldiers are ready to return our weapons to their previous positions and rebuff the enemy," he told troops in a speech Friday.

Diplomats at the United Nations held an emergency Security Council session on Friday on the ceasefire deal at the request of France and Germany.

Council members heard a report from two OSCE representatives on the situation on the ground, before meeting behind closed doors.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has welcomed the downturn in violence but demanded Moscow withdraw the weapons it is accused of sending across the border in support of the rebels.

Accusing Russia of transferring "over 1,000 pieces of equipment", including tanks, artillery and air defense systems, Stoltenberg said: "They have to withdraw this equipment and they have to stop supporting separatists."

The United States and European Union have warned that Russia -- which has been battered by successive rounds of sanctions over the unrest in Ukraine as well as falling oil prices -- could face fresh economic punishment if the peace process unravels.

Moscow has itself ratcheted up the pressure by warning it could cut off gas supplies to Ukraine -- and, by extension, to parts of the EU.

Ukraine and Russia confirmed that they would attend urgent EU-brokered talks in Brussels Monday to try to resolve a dispute related to Moscow's move to start direct supplies to rebel-held areas.

Moscow last year cut off gas deliveries to Ukraine before turning the taps back on in December after making cash-strapped Kiev pay in advance for its supplies.

Now, Russian state-owned gas giant Gazprom is saying that Ukraine has only paid enough to cover gas supplies to the end of the week.

Ukraine says that Russia masterminded the rebellion in the east to punish Kiev for pursing closer ties with the West following the February 2014 ouster of Kremlin-backed president Viktor Yanukovych through street protests.

Russia accused the West of fomenting a coup in Kiev and quickly moved to take control of Crimea.

The Kremlin claimed the bloodless annexation was aimed at protecting Russian speakers on the peninsula.