EU leaders have told Ukraine they are worried about ceasefire violations in the east of the country but will not send armed peacekeepers there.
“We can only talk about a civilian mission, not military,” European Council President Donald Tusk told a news conference in Kiev.
Earlier Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko said the EU or the UN should deploy peacekeepers to eastern Ukraine. Pro-Russian rebels have been bombarding a village near the city of Mariupol.
On Sunday tank and mortar rounds pounded the village – Shyrokyne – near government-held Mariupol, a vital port city. Mr Tusk said the EU would send a civilian “assessment” mission to Kiev, to explore ways to further boost security assistance for Ukraine.
The heavily armed rebels have been fighting government forces for a year in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The West accuses Russia of arming the rebels and sending in regular soldiers. Moscow denies that, insisting that any Russians on the rebel side are volunteers.
Mr Poroshenko says peacekeepers are needed to ensure proper monitoring of frontline areas and the rebel-controlled border with Russia.
Mr Tusk said: “We are concerned about reports of weapons still entering eastern Ukraine”. International OSCE observers were “not able to verify a withdrawal of heavy weaponry”, he said.
Under the Minsk ceasefire deal signed in February both sides were supposed to pull heavy weapons back from the conflict zone. Mr Tusk reiterated that EU sanctions against Russia would remain in place until the Minsk conditions were met in full.
On Sunday OSCE observers said they experienced the most intense shelling of Shyrokyne since fighting began there in mid-February. Heavy weapons including tanks were spotted in rebel-held areas near there, they said.
The economic cost of the war undermines Ukraine’s ambition for greater economic integration with the EU. It also makes some political aspirations, like visa-free travel for Ukrainian citizens in the EU, highly unlikely.
Yet the EU leaders’ visit is hugely symbolic. They are keen to show solidarity in the face of what they see as Russian-fuelled aggression in the east. But the rebels will probably interpret the summit as another provocation.
