The White House: the separatists and Russia do not comply with the terms of the truce in the Donbass

As the White House said on Wednesday, it’s “quite obvious” that in the east of Ukraine, Russia and the separatists do not comply with the terms of the cease-fire agreement concluded last week in Minsk. The US administration warned that in such a situation, "they risk facing more serious problems."

“As they take further steps, they should keep this in mind. We continue to believe that this situation can only be resolved at the negotiating table,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.

These comments were made after the separatists took the city of Debaltseve, a strategically important railway junction connecting Lugansk and Donetsk regions, and the president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, ordered several thousand of his servicemen to leave the city.

Reportedly, the separatists captured several hundred soldiers of the Ukrainian army, and those who did not surrender were surrounded by food and water.

Also Wednesday, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that Washington did not consider the Minsk Agreement and the truce "dead", but was still "seriously concerned" with reports that the separatists continued to attack Debaltseve and violate the truce in other areas.

Psaki said that today Secretary Kerry had a talk with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and called on him to stop the Russian military and separatist offensive.

Leaders of France, who acted as intermediaries at the conclusion of a truce, also said on Wednesday that the agreement and the truce are still in force.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the main "task is to save the lives of people who ended up in this boiler ..."

Russia continues to assert that in the east of Ukraine there are neither Russian weapons nor Russian military, despite the facts and eyewitness reports that the Russian military are directly involved in hostilities.