BERLIN, April 14 - Foreign ministers from Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine called for an end to the renewed heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine following tough talks in Berlin on Monday, Reuters reported.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the talks had been "at times very controversial" but said all participants agreed there was no alternative to the ceasefire agreement signed in the Belarusian capital Minsk in February.

"We need to ensure that the ceasefire is adhered to far more strongly as fully as possible," Steinmeier said.
The talks took place amid a sharp spike in hostilities in eastern Ukraine over the weekend. On Monday one Ukrainian serviceman was killed and six were wounded in rebel-held territories.

Steinmeier said all parties had agreed to push ahead with the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line and to extend this to other categories of weapons, including tanks, armored vehicles and heavy weapons smaller than 100 mm caliber.

Meanwhile, Russian forces are still operating inside Ukraine and have set up training camps for pro-Moscow separatists, despite a ceasefire agreement backed by the Kremlin, AFP reported Tuesday, citing the Pentagon.

"There is no question that the Russians continue to operate inside of Ukrainian territory," spokesman Colonel Steven Warren said.

The United States believed the Russians "have established training centers in Ukraine to train separatist fighters in tasks such as gunnery and artillery firing drills," Warren said.

"We also know that they continue to maintain advanced surface-to-air missile systems near the front line" in the east of the country, which violated a ceasefire accord, he added.

There are also Russian "command and control elements" helping to coordinate military operations for the separatists, according to Warren.

The foreign ministers were also all willing to support the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire deal, further with money and personnel over the next few weeks.

They also agreed to continue with an exchange of prisoners in the conflict region and to set up four working groups to deal with the humanitarian, economic and security policy questions in east Ukraine.

Steimeier stressed, however, that the Minsk accord went beyond the ceasefire agreement and must pave the way toward elections in the rebel-held territories.

"If this process stalls, then the Minsk agreement risks possibly coming off the rails ... all sides want to prevent this," he said. (rt/ez)