Donetsk (Ukraine) (AFP) - Ukraine said Wednesday it was readying for fresh combat operations in the war-torn east as NATO backed claims that Moscow has poured columns of military hardware across the border. <\/p>\n
Kiev's warning will fuel fears of a return to all-out conflict despite a two-month-old ceasefire deal which has halted fighting along much of the frontline but not stopped shelling at strategic flashpoints. <\/p>\n
Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak said Kiev was preparing for a new round of fighting after seeing \"increased activity\" by Russia and pro-Moscow rebels across the region. <\/p>\n
\"The main task I see is to prepare for combat operations. We are doing this, we are readying our reserves,\" Poltorak said at the start of a cabinet meeting. <\/p>\n
\"We observe their movements, we know where they are and we expect unpredictable actions from them.\" <\/p>\n
He said the situation in the conflict zone was \"complicated but stable\" for now. <\/p>\n
His comments came as NATO's supreme commander threw his weight behind allegations that Moscow has stepped up the flow of armaments across the frontier. <\/p>\n
\"We have seen columns of Russian equipment, primarily Russian tanks, Russian artillery, Russian air defence systems and Russian combat troops entering into Ukraine,\" US General Philip Breedlove said in Sofia. <\/p>\n
Moscow has consistently denied that it is involved in the fighting in east Ukraine. <\/p>\n
But it openly gives political backing to the self-declared separatist statelets and it is unclear how else the rebels could have acquired the heavy weaponry typical of a regular army. <\/p>\n
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