Russian military aggression flares up in Donbas, say OSCE, U.S.

About 1,165 explosions were reported in Donetsk and
Luhansk oblasts (collectively known as “Donbas”) by the OSCE monitoring mission
between Dec. 11 19:30 and Dec. 12 19:30.The night of Dec. 13, OSCE monitors
observed shooting in the occupied Luhansk region that extended for six hours.

The U.S. State Department reported on Dec. 13
Russian-directed rocket and artillery fire, which it said targeted the
residential areas of occupied Donbas. Meanwhile, living conditions are at their
worst level in the last three years, the U.S. State Department said, calling
upon the Russian government to cease the attacks and uphold the ceasefire.

The Canadian government announced on Dec. 13 that it
included Ukraine in its list of countries that are allowed to acquire firearms,
including automatic rifles, the eurointegration.com.ua news site reported that
day. “Now nothing will interfere with Ukraine receiving weapons from Canada,”
tweeted the same day Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin.

Zenon Zawada: Naturally,
this flare up isn’t directly related to U.S. President Trump approving lethal
defensive weapons for Ukraine. Yet such measures, combined with Canada’s
willingness to offer its own firearms, will only cause the Russians to enhance
their military preparedness, with similar escalations of attacks in the coming
months.

The introduction of new U.S. and Canadian armaments
in occupied Donbas won’t lead to peace, as is widely acknowledged in
Washington. But it’s also our view that it will not give the West an advantage
in an escalated fiscal spending on the war, as the Russian establishment views
Ukraine as its top foreign policy priority. More firearms have the strong
potential to exacerbate the warfare without drawing closer to any resolution,
in our view.