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Flight MH17 hit by numerous ‘high energy objects’

Diplomats said the new EU restrictions bar Russia’s largest state-owned oil and defence firms from using European markets to raise capital and slap more asset freezes and travel bans on officials

However, both Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko have vowed to work to uphold the so-called “protocol” signed in Minsk, the first ceasefire backed by both Kiev and Moscow.

The Kremlin said the two leaders — who often speak by phone despite only having met twice since Poroshenko’s election in May — agreed to continue discussing “steps to facilitate a peaceful resolution of the situation in southeast Ukraine”.

Poroshenko paid a highly symbolic visit to Mariupol on Monday, vowing that the port city on a key route between Russia and the annexed Crimean peninsula would remain in government hands.

“It is our land. We will not give it up to anyone,” he said.

Mariupol has been on edge fearing a full-on offensive by rebels who advanced across the southeast in late August apparently backed by Russian troops and firepower, quickly reversing recent Ukrainian gains.

Poroshenko said there had been 10-12 truce violations a day and called on the OSCE, the pan-European security body that brokered the deal, to send observers to the “dangerous” spots where violence had flared.

Officials also announced Monday that around 650 Ukrainians held by rebels had been released, one of the conditions of the 12-point Minsk accord.

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