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Putin, Ukrainian President Poroshenko To Meet In Minsk Next Week

August 19, 2014
by RFE/RL

As fighting continued between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk, Kyiv and Moscow announced that the presidents of Russia and Ukraine will meeet in Minsk next week.

The Kremlin said in a web statement on August 19 that Vladimir Putin would meet with Petro Poroshenko, as well as officials from the European Union and the Eurasian Customs Union, which comprises Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus.

Putin's office added that 'a number of bilateral meetings are also scheduled to take place.'

Poroshenko, whose official website also announced the gathering, said that 'stabilizing the situation' in eastern Ukraine would be a key topic of discussion.

The Ukrainian statement quoted European Commission President Juan Manuel Barroso as saying that the EU invitation had come from Poroshenko.

Poroshenko's website said the gathering will also include the leaders of Kazakhstan and Belarus.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Ukraine's military said government forces on August 19 were fighting pro-Russian separatists within Luhansk, one of two rebel-held cities in eastern Ukraine.

National Security and Defense Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko said one district of Luhansk "has been liberated" and that "fighting is going on in the center of the city."

Lysenko said separatists were destroying the infrastructure in populated areas of eastern Ukraine and were placing land mines on roads, bridges, health clinics, and hospitals.

Russian news agencies quoted the separatists in Luhansk as saying on August 19 that Ukrainian forces had fired several artillery barrages into the city center but that there was no combat in the city center.

The Luhansk City Council said on its website on August 19 that civilians had been killed and injured by overnight artillery attacks. It did not cite any figures for the casualties.

Meanwhile, officials in Kyiv said government forces also tightened their encirclement of the main rebel stronghold of Donetsk on August 19.

Kyiv says fighting outside of Luhansk on August 19 halted efforts by government troops to recover the bodies of dozens of civilians it says were killed by separatist fighters on August 18 while trying to flee Luhansk.

The government says the bodies of 15 civilians have been recovered so far.

Kyiv accuses pro-Russian rebels of firing Russian-supplied rockets and artillery at a convoy that was transporting the adults and children from Luhansk.

Pro-Russian separatists deny carrying out the attack, calling it "blatant propaganda."

In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) agreed on August 19 to take "active measures" within hours "to resolve the status" of a large convoy of Russian trucks that Moscow says is carrying humanitarian aid destined for eastern Ukraine.

The ICRC said on August 19 that it was still waiting for all sides to provide security guarantees before it would agree to allow its representatives to accompany the Russian convoy and ensure it isn't providing weapons to the rebels.

Ukrainian authorities at the border were refusing to inspect the cargo and allow it to cross into Ukrainian territory until separatists have provided those security guarantees to the Red Cross.

'As of 10 a.m. Moscow time, the process of preparing aid for delivery has not been carried out since representatives from the International Committee of the Red Cross [ICRC] have not received security guarantees from militiamen,' Ukrainian military spokesman Lysenko told reporters.

The latest fighting in eastern Ukraine comes after talks in Berlin on August 17 between the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France failed to reach an agreement on defusing Ukraine's crisis.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, dpa, AFP, Rossia 24, ITAR-TASS, and Interfax

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/meeting-putin- poroshenko-belarus-customs/26539636.html

Copyright (c) 2014. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.