Kiev - European leaders on Monday resisted Ukraine's demands for peacekeepers to stabilise its war-torn east, as monitors reported a surge in shelling near a strategic government-held city.
Top European Union officials at a summit with the former Soviet state did however agree to boost humanitarian support as Kiev fights separatists in the east whom its Western allies accuse Russia of backing.
Observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) say shelling is rumbling on in the east despite a ceasefire deal signed in the Belarusian capital Minsk in February.
Ukraine's pro-Western President Petro Poroshenko called on the EU officials "to deploy an international peacekeeping mission in our country which will contribute to the complete fulfilment of the Minsk accords".
Kiev's European and US allies are reluctant to send weapons or troops to Ukraine for fear of escalating the conflict, which has damaged their relations with Moscow.
"We know about Ukrainian expectations today, but it's impossible to send a military mission," said Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council of EU leaders, after meetings with Poroshenko on Monday.
Tusk did say however that the EU would "send as soon as possible a civilian assessment mission... to assess the humanitarian situation" in Ukraine.
The conflict between government troops and pro-Russian rebels has killed more than 6,000 people in the past year and displaced more than a million, according to the United Nations.
AFP
