Ukraine blames Moscow for ‘human shield’ detentions in east

Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine offered on Saturday to release eight captive international observers in a prisoner exchange, as Western governments prepared new sanctions against Moscow. The pro-Western government in Kiev blamed Russia for what it called the kidnapping on Friday of the monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The separatists said they suspected the observers of spying; Ukraine said they were being used as human shields. Since Ukrainians toppled their pro-Russian president in February, Russia has annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and massed tens of thousands of troops on the country’s eastern border. NATO has responded by sending reinforcements to eastern Europe, in the gravest East-West crisis since the Cold War. Earlier on Saturday the Group of Seven major economies announced they had agreed to impose more sanctions on Russia, which they believe is bent on destabilising its former Soviet neighbour and possibly grabbing more territory. Diplomats said the US and the European Union were expected to unveil new punitive action against Russian individuals from Monday, according to Reuters.