text: Ukraine agrees to fresh crisis talks Skip to:Main ContentSite NavigationSite footerSite site-searchSite MapNetwork Navigation (other sites)HipagesFox SportsCareerOneCarsguideRealEstateNews NetworkNews.com.auNews.com.auNationalWorldLifestyleTravelEntertainmentTechnologyFinanceSportVideoFacebookTwitterInstagramGooglePlusSearchLatest In WorldNew bid to extradite PolanskiThe world's most awkward toiletNorth Korea missile launch failedSurvivor: 'A gorilla saved me'Why this photo should shock youNew clues in case of missing Australian'You can't take a risk with a silverback'Breast implants popped by kangaroo
  europeUkraine's President Petro Poroshenko agrees to fresh crisis talksJuly 5, 201411:51amPeace hopes ... Ukrainian forces go to the north of the Donetsk region.AFP and Network WritersAFPShareShare on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Google+Share on RedditEmail a friendUKARINE'S embattled new leader has agreed to immediate crisis talks with rebel commanders and Russia aimed at stemming the bloodshed that has threatened his country's survival and ruptured East-West ties.Clashes in the economically-vital border regions of Lugansk and Donetsk have picked up with renewed vigour since Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko tore up a 10-day ceasefire earlier this week.His decision on Monday was immediately followed by the launch of a "massive" offensive by Kiev that led President Vladimir Putin to warn that Russia has the right to protect its compatriots in Ukraine.Talks ... Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko gestures as he delivers a speech in parliament.Source:AFPThe head of Ukraine's national security and defence council said government forces had regained control over 23 of the conflict zone's 36 local regions. But the military also reported the loss of nine soldiers in the latest overnight exchanges of mortar fire.The uprising was sparked by the February ouster of a pro-Kremlin administration and fuelled by Russia's subsequent seizure of Crimea.Nearly three months of guerilla warfare has killed more than 460 people and left Western leaders frustrated by repeated mediation failures.But the ongoing low-scale warfare on the European Union's eastern frontier has also unified the West in its biggest pushback to date against Putin's seeming attempt to reassert command over former Soviet lands.Enough bloodshed ... Ukrainian forces moving some 20km from the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk.Source:AFPRussia now faces the threat of devastating economic sanctions should Putin fail to explicitly order the militias to lay down their arms.France and Germany — still hoping to avoid new punitive steps that would damage their own economies — have spearheaded efforts to set up new European-mediated discussions that would bring Poroshenko's envoys into rare contact with the rebel command.
  US President Barack Obama and British Foreign Secretary William Hague both pressed Putin on Thursday to make sure the separatists attend the next meeting on Saturday.Jump back to topRight now in world123ReadersEurope migrant crisis: Heartbreaking photo of dead baby shou...36ReadersNorth Korea missile launch failed, says South Korea17ReadersAust man gets life in Vietnam over drugs
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