Russian FM appeals for new efforts to ease mounting tension in SE Ukraine

The line of contact between Ukrainian government troops and insurgent militias in southeastern Ukraine has turned into a frontline, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday, blaming Kiev for the negative development in the region.

"The situation at the fronts has been disturbing. We may speak about, in essence, a frontline, not just about a dividing line," Lavrov told reporters following talks with his visiting Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Last week, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) monitoring mission in eastern Ukraine said violence in the restive areas has been increasing, with both sides allegedly using heavy weapons in violation of a six-month-old ceasefire agreement signed in Minsk.

"Let's just implement what has been agreed on in Minsk," said Lavrov, appealing for new efforts of the Normandy Four -- Russia, Ukraine, France, Germany -- to ease the mounting tension there.

Lavrov reiterated his calls to the Western countries to exercise pressure on Kiev to force it to resume dialogue with the Donbass insurgents.

Meanwhile, Lavrov described as "delirium" the latest claims of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko that Russia has been prepared for aggression against Europe.

Poroshenko said in a recent interview with French media that Russian President Vladimir Putin "wants to come to Europe" and that Russian aggression against Finland and Baltic and Black Sea countries "is likely."

Lavrov slammed these claims as "Russophobic," saying they were aimed at concealing Kiev's inability to implement Minsk agreements.

Since April 2014, the conflict in eastern Ukraine has killed more than 6,800 and wounded almost 17,100 others, according to the latest United Nations estimates. Endi