Ukraine crisis: Leaders to hold more talks amid clashes

Some rebel leaders refused to observe the ceasefire and clashes with government troops have continued

The leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France are to hold more talks to resolve the conflict in east Ukraine.

Germany and France have urged Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to extend a ceasefire with pro-Russian separatists - due to end on Monday evening - for a second time.

The truce remains under strain, with five Ukrainian soldiers killed in clashes in the east.

A Russian state TV cameraman was also shot dead while reporting in Donetsk.

Russia's Channel One TV said that Anatoly Klyan, 68, was fatally wounded in the stomach when shots were fired by Ukrainian troops near a military base. He was reporting on pro-Russian separatists in the area.

He is the third Russian TV journalist to be killed in Ukraine this month.

In a statement on its website, Russia's foreign ministry said the cameraman's death showed that Ukraine's "security structures" clearly did not want a de-escalation of the conflict.

The ministry demanded that Ukraine carry out an objective investigation.

Deadline looms
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande held their second talks in a week with Mr Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday.

One man at the demonstrations in the capital carried a sign saying: "We talk - they kill!"

The leaders discussed the importance of the ceasefire and the implementation of Mr Poroshenko's peace plan, a statement (in French) from President Hollande's office said.

Protesters gathered in Kiev on Sunday to voice their anger at President Poroshenko's truce with rebels

 Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksiy Dmytrashkivskiy said five Ukrainian soldiers had been killed and at least 17 wounded in clashes in the east of Ukraine.

He also said pro-Russian rebels had seized an air defence unit in Donetsk and captured six soldiers, although this has not been independently verified.

Elsewhere, there were renewed clashes in the rebel stronghold of Sloviansk with government troops and armed separatists accusing one another firing shells in the city.

Photographs showed a badly damaged apartment block and there were reports of civilian casualties, but this has not been confirmed.

EU pressure

President Poroshenko's 15-point peace plan involves decentralising power and holding early local and parliamentary elections.

The separatists in eastern Ukraine continue to occupy several government and military buildings

The European Union has threatened to impose more sanctions on Russia unless Mr Putin puts pressure on pro-Russia rebels to lay down their arms.

Chancellor Merkel warned Russia on Friday the EU was prepared for "drastic measures" if no progress was made on the peace plan.

Her warning came as Mr Poroshenko signed a landmark EU trade pact - an agreement that triggered the recent crisis.

The refusal of Mr Poroshenko's predecessor, Viktor Yanukovych, to sign the EU deal - under pressure from Russia - led to protests in Kiev and his eventual overthrow this year.

Russia then annexed Ukraine's Crimea region, and separatists in the east declared independence from Ukraine.

More than 420 people have been killed in fighting between pro-Russia rebels and government forces in eastern Ukraine since mid-April, the UN estimates.

 

SOUCE:BBC