Ukraine peace talks deadlocked

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Talks aimed at settling the conflict between pro-Russian separatists and government forces in eastern Ukraine ended without a breakthrough on Saturday.
Former Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma, the government's envoy to the meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group, said the participants could not agree on either a ceasefire or the withdrawal of heavy weaponry, the Interfax news agency reported, reports dpa.
The discussions lasted three hours in the Belarusian capital, Minsk. The renewed peace effort comes amid heavy fighting between government troops and separatist militias in eastern Ukraine.
The contact group, which consists of Russia, Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), negotiated the last ceasefire with the separatists in September.
An attempt to meet Friday failed. The separatists' envoys for the talks, Denis Pushilin and Vladislav Deinego, said that Kiev had foiled the talks and that they were forced to leave the Belarusian capital after no Ukrainian delegation showed up.
The talks were announced Thursday after a meeting of the contact group with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
Earlier Saturday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Francois Hollande had a telephone conversation, the Kremlin said, about the meeting in Minsk.
They expressed hope that the discussions will focus on a ceasefire at the earliest and the withdrawal of heavy weaponry.
US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet next week with the Ukraine leadership in Kiev. He also plans to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a security conference in Munich February 6-8, the State Department said Friday.

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