Pentagon Wants More Funds To Fight IS, Boost NATO Defenses In East

The Pentagon on February 2 will provide a preview of its 2017 budget requesting more funds to beef up U.S. forces in Eastern Europe and fight the Islamic State extremist group.

The Pentagon's request for the fiscal year beginning October 1 will total $583 billion, U.S. officials said, including $59 billion of "contingency funds" to pay for military actions in Afghanistan, and more than $7 billion for fighting IS in Iraq and Syria, in a 35 percent increase over 2016's budget.

In a speech unveiling the budget request, which will be detailed in full on February 9, the officials said Defense Secretary Ash Carter will highlight the world's changing "threat environment," underscoring the new risks presented by Russia since its 2014 annexation of Crimea and support of pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.

Carter will announce big increases to the European Reassurance Initiative aimed at countering the Russian threat, and the extra money will be used to pay for significant U.S. troop and equipment increases in countries such as Estonia and Romania, the officials said.

Based on reporting by AP and AFP

Ways out of a blind alley in Ukraine

Almost one year after the Minsk agreement to resolve the Ukraine crisis, diplomats are working frantically behind the scenes but the two sides are still entrenched. Frank Hofmann reports from Kyiv.

Since the end of Orthodox Christmas in the first week of January, diplomats have again been meeting every Wednesday in Minsk. Also present at the meetings are representatives of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and moderators from its member states, including Germany and France. Several "working groups" then discuss political and economic questions and breaches of the ceasefire between Ukrainians, Russians, and the Russian-backed rebels.

The OSCE observers have plenty to worry about, because fighting is on the increase again, and weapons are being brought back into the buffer zone. Economic issues are being negotiated with a German representative from the Foreign Office in Berlin as mediator. The rebels' representatives and Russia are mostly demanding an end to Kyiv's economic blockade of the occupied territories. Kyiv points out that "hardly any banks will be prepared to send a security van there full of money" - which could be used to pay people's pensions or social security benefits. Kyiv's argument is that you might as well transfer the money directly to the rebels.

Read more by Deutsche Welle here.

Dutch support grows for EU-Ukraine deal

Dutch voters are opposed to the Netherlands’ ratification of the European Union’s association agreement with Ukraine, but the gap between Yes and No is getting smaller.

According to a poll published in De Volkskrant Monday, 44 percent intend to vote in favor of the agreement, and 55 percent would vote No. In a poll in December 2015, the figures were 38 percent Yes and 62 percent No. The Yes campaign was formally launched Monday.

Read more here.

Russia still sending troops, weapons to east Ukraine: Poroshenko

Berlin, Feb 1, 2016 (AFP) -- Ukraine's president Monday accused Russia of sending troops and weapons into the ex-Soviet state's conflict-torn east, and warned that a fragile peace deal was not being fully implemented.

"It's terrible that after the Minsk agreement ... we still face serious security problems in the Donbass," Petro Poroshenko said in reference to the pro-Russian separatist region, ahead of talks in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Kiev and Moscow finalised a ceasefire deal brokered by France and Germany in the Belarus capital of Minsk last February, but sporadic clashes still took place on the frontline.

Poroshenko accused "Russia and its proxies" of failing to observe the ceasefire, and of some 1,200 shellings in January alone.

Observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are denied access to the border, he said, adding that "this is not surprising as Russia still supplies troops, heavy weapons and ammunition to Donbass over the border and does not want witnesses to these illicit activities."

Merkel also noted that "unfortunately we still, as before, do not have a sustainable ceasefire".

Noting that full implementation of the peace deal was a prerequisite to any easing of Western sanctions against Russia, the German leader said: "We think it is for the good of everybody if Minsk is implemented."

Kiev and the West have accused Russia of supporting the insurgency and sending regular troops across the border, claims that Moscow has repeatedly denied.

Over 9,000 people have been killed and more than 20,000 injured in the conflict in Ukraine since April 2014, according to the United Nations.

That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Monday, February 1, 2016. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage.