Poroshenko to meet Putin next week

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko yesterday said that he will meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin next week to discuss the six-month conflict between Kiev and pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.

"I will have a meeting with the President of Russia Vladimir Putin in Milan," where a Europe-Asia Meeting summit will be held October 16-17, Poroshenko said while on a visit to eastern city Kharkiv.

The talks will also include German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Premier Matteo Renzi, and British Prime Minister David Cameron along with the "leaders of the European Union," Poroshenko said.

Putin and Poroshenko last met in late August for talks that led to a truce accord between Kiev and the pro-Russian rebels in eastern regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, where Ukraine says Moscow is stirring a bloody rebellion.

Under the truce, both sides must pull back heavy artillery by 15 kilometres, creating a 30-kilometre wide demilitarised zone. However, that has yet to happen, especially around Donetsk international airport, where Ukrainian units have held out against rebel attacks since May.

The conflict has already killed more than 3,300 people. The United Nations says that more than 300 have died since the ceasefire.

Fighting has continued in several areas along the frontline where the two sides have failed to pull back heavy artillery, as required under the ceasefire.

Shelling in eastern Ukraine's rebel-held eastern regions killed five people over the past 24 hours, local authorities said yesterday, in the latest deadly violations of a ceasefire.