Ukraine's military on Friday said it would not launch an offensive against pro-Russia separatists controlling two regions in the country's east, as fears grow of a major escalation in the long-running conflict. "The liberation of the temporarily occupied territories by force will inevitably lead to the death of a large number of civilians and casualties among the military, which is unacceptable for Ukraine," Ruslan Khomchak, chief of the general staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said in a statement. osh/emg/har