Ukraine to host round-table talks in bid to settle crisis

PanARMENIAN.Net - Ukraine is due to host in Kyiv as efforts continue to find a negotiated settlement to the crisis in the east of round-table talks the country. The talks will include members of the interim government and regional leaders, but pro-Russian activists have refused to take part, BBC News reported.

The move is part of a "roadmap" drawn up by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation and Europe (OSCE). On Tuesday, May 13 seven Ukrainian soldiers were killed by activists in the east.

The defence ministry said an armoured personnel carrier was ambushed near the town of Kramatorsk in Donetsk region. One activist was also said to have died in the ensuing gunfight. Donetsk and the neighbouring region of Luhansk have declared themselves separate from Ukraine after referendums deemed illegal by Kyiv, the US and EU.

The OSCE - a security and rights monitoring group drawn from European countries - said on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin supported its initiative. The Vienna-based group named veteran German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger as a moderator for Wednesday's talks.

However, analysts say it is unclear who will speak for the pro-Russian activists, who lack a single leader or agreed goals.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, currently visiting Ukraine, said he hoped that Wednesday's talks would lead to the activists disarming and would also improve the atmosphere for presidential elections on 25 May.

Speaking in Odessa, he said the situation remained "very threatening" but called for "a national dialogue."

The talks come amid escalating violence in the east of Ukraine, where armed activists continue to occupy key government buildings. Russia denies fomenting the unrest.