UK troops to train Ukrainian army: Cameron

PanARMENIAN.Net - British military personnel are to be sent to Ukraine in the next few weeks to provide advice and training, says Prime Minister David Cameron, BBC News reports.

As he spoke, pro-Russian militants said they were pulling back heavy weapons from the front line in eastern Ukraine as part of a ceasefire. However, the government in Kiev has disputed the claims.

Cameron said he would push for more sanctions on Russia if the militants failed to observe the truce.

The prime minister told a House of Commons committee that up to 75 British soldiers divided into four teams would go to an area well away from the conflict zone to provide medical, logistics, intelligence and infantry skills.

The United States has already said it is planning to send a battalion of soldiers to train three Ukrainian battalions.

Foreign ministers from Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France met in Paris on Tuesday, Feb 24 in an attempt to bolster confidence in the ceasefire agreed in Minsk on 12 February. They made little progress, reports said.

Ukraine fears that the militants are planning to use the relative lull in fighting to switch their attention to the southern port city of Mariupol.