Russia-backed militants do not comply with the ceasefire regime\u00a0in the Debaltseve area and near the\u00a0village of\u00a0Shyrokyne. Thousands of Ukrainian troops are being surrounded in Debaltseve in what may become one of the biggest defeats for the nation’s army since the battle of Illovaisk in August and September.<\/p>\n
World leaders call\u00a0ceasefire\u00a0in Ukraine “fragile.”\u00a0Despite the “fragile” pause, the German foreign minister calls for the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the\u00a0conflict\u00a0zone.<\/p>\n
WAR.\u00a0SETTLEMENT OF THE CRISIS IN UKRAINE.<\/b><\/p>\n
A group of Ukrainian servicemen have been taken prisoner by Kremlin-backed militants in the besieged city of Debaltseve in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said<\/a> on Feb. 17.\u00a0 The report comes as thousands of Ukrainian troops are being surrounded in Debaltseve in what may become one of the biggest defeats for the nation’s army since the battle of Illovaisk in August and September. That massacre of hundreds of Ukrainian troops forced President Petro Poroshenko into the first Minsk peace agreements in September, the therms of which were routinely violated by the Russian side.\u00a0 The Defense Ministry said soldiers of the General Staff’s 101st Security Guard Brigade and the 8th Special Forces Regiment had been ambushed by Russian proxies.<\/p>\n EU new individual\u00a0sanction\u00a0list was published and came into force<\/a>.This new set of sanctions related to the situation Ukraine and includes 19 individuals and 9 entities.\u00a0Among those,\u00a0who\u00a0were banned from entering\u00a0into the EU and whose assets in Europe\u00a0should be freezed, are\u00a0five representatives of the Russian Federation.\u00a0Among them, First Deputy Defense Minister Arkadiy Bakhin, Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov,\u00a0Member\u00a0of the\u00a0Parliament\u00a0of Russia\u00a0(State Duma)\u00a0Iosif Kobzon, as well as the of the\u00a0Parliament of Russia\u00a0Ethnic Affairs, First Deputy Chairman\u00a0Valery Rashkin.<\/p>\n ECONOMY<\/b><\/p>\n The topic of Ukrainian debt restructuring became a matter of public discussion.\u00a0Ukrainian Ministry of Finance expects\u00a0the forthcoming negotiations with creditors on improving the sustainability of public debt\u00a0to be completed\u00a0until the next revision of the credit program of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in June.<\/a>\u00a0 Minister of Finance,\u00a0Natalia\u00a0Yaresko reported that during cosultations different ways to reduce the cost of debt service\u00a0will be discussed, including the capital issues\u00a0exchange for new ones.\u00a0Ministry of Finance intends to\u00a0begin negotiations\u00a0with the holders of sovereign debt after the approval of the new IMF\u00a0program by\u00a0its board of directors.\u00a0 Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko hopes to shave $15 billion off the debt amount in the next four years through restructuring talks<\/a> with creditors.\u00a0 At the same time the government has no answer to the question about the actions of the authorities\u00a0in case if\u00a0one of the creditors demands\u00a0immediate payment of the debt.\u00a0 The finance minister evaded the question\u00a0about\u00a0possible Ukrainian actions in case Russian refusal to restructure Eurobond with total value of $3 billion maturing in December 2015.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the government of Ukraine has worsened the GDP forecast in 2015 to 5.5%<\/a> (the state budget adopted in late December 2015 was based on the conservative scenario of the situation, providing for the decline in GDP by 4.3%). \u00a0On February 14, Prime Minister Yatsenyuk reported that the inflation forecast for 2015 deteriorated to 26% from 13.1%\u00a0recorded in state budget in December.\u00a0The government forecasts the economic growth by 0.5%\u00a0in 2016<\/a>.<\/p>\n GOVERNMENT<\/b><\/p>\n The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine have submitted the draft amendments to the state budget for 2015 to the Parliament on on Monday, February 16.\u00a0<\/a>Minister of Finance Natalia Yaresko\u00a0stated that the adoption of\u00a0these amendments\u00a0is a prerequisite for the new\u00a0increased funding program of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).\u00a0 The minister said that due to inflation and devaluation, the\u00a0income are expected to increase up to 22.5 billion USD or 3.9%, to 599 billion USD, while spending will increase\u00a0up to 35.7 billion UAH or 5.7%, to 664 billion USD.\u00a0 According to Yaresko, the growth of costs associated with the need to increase the amount of direct subsidies for gas and utility services for\u00a0the population, increasing number of internally displaced persons to 1 million people,\u00a0and\u00a0an increase in the cost of debt service due to the devaluation of the hryvnia.\u00a0Ms.\u00a0Yaresko said that\u00a0spending increase\u00a0would entail\u00a0budget\u00a0<\/a>deficit\u00a0