A paramedic from the USA has been killed after a mine exploded, damaging an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) vehicle in Lugansk, western Ukraine.
The foreign ministry said incidents of this nature, and the general increased tensions, were "obviously" in the interests of those reluctant to implement the Minsk agreements.
The OSCE team's 600 members in eastern Ukraine are the only independent monitoring mission in the devastated industrial war zone.
The unarmed, civilian OSCE mission with more than 700 global observers was deployed in 2014.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the decision as a humanitarian mission - helping to keep an estimated three million people out of darkness - but would not say exactly when or how the power supply will be flowing into the rebel-controlled Luhansk region that borders Russian Federation.
Mr Tillerson told Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko that Moscow's actions in the region were an obstacle to improved relations between the two countries.
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also called for a careful investigation into the incident, saying those guilty should be brought to justice.
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The OSCE suffered its first casualty in the three-year war in Europe's backyard after an armored vehicle hit a landmine Sunday in the pro-Russia militant fiefdom of Lugansk. His death sparked calls from a wide range of governments and agencies for an investigation into the explosion.
OSCE Principal Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug, said the blast was most likely caused by a mine.
After Russia failed to get Ukraine to recognize separatist authorities, it was left with two choices: abandon eastern Ukraine or prop it up even further, Makarkin said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was appalled and her government expected the parties to investigate and determine who was responsible. The OSCE is an impartial civilian mission tasked with observing and reporting on the situation in Ukraine.
But, on a website, the rebels said the vehicle had "deviated from the main route. which is prohibited".
"We're deeply outraged by this cynical action, which led to the loss of human life and was directed against worldwide observers who work for the sake of peace", the ministry said in a statement on its website. Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's Interior Ministry, earlier said on social media that the man who was killed was a British citizen, but later deleted the post.
Tillerson confirmed the sanctions on Russian Federation will remain until control of Crimea is returned to Ukraine and Russian Federation "fully implements its commitments" under the Minsk agreements.
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