A Kremlin spokesman confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in the Minsk summit, so it would appear that Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will indeed meet next Tuesday for the first time since the D-Day commemorations in early June.
An announcement on the Kremlin website adds that "a number of bilateral meetings are also scheduled to take place" but doesn't provide details.
From ITAR-TASS:
Deliveries from Russia's relief aid convoy for embattled east Ukraine have been suspended again, Andrey Lysenko, spokesman for Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, said on Tuesday.
"As of 10am 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," Lysenko said, adding that a group of ICRC representatives was on its way to Ukraine's eastern city of Lugansk for an assessment and to organise cargo delivery.
"A group of three people will arrive in Ukraine from the city of Donetsk in Rostov region," he said.
Ukraine's prime minister viewing the glass half full:
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's official website says European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso "supported an initiative by the President of Ukraine to invite the EU to participate in the high-level meetings" in Minsk between Ukraine and the Customs Unioon's "Eurasian Troika" of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus on August 26. They are reportedly expected to discuss issues related to Ukraine's EU association agreement, energy security, and stabilization of the Donbas region.
Interfax quoted the Belarusian Foreign Ministry confirming that it plans to host the gathering.
Mystery solved! From Reuters:
UKRAINE INTERIOR MINISTRY ADVISER SAYS REBEL COMMANDER SEIZED WAS SEMYON KHODAKOVSKY, A JUNIOR COMMANDER, AND NOT ALEXANDER KHODAKOVSKY WHO HEADS THE REBEL UNIT, VOSTOK BATTALION
Still questions about which Khodakovsky, but...
BREAKING: Reuters quotes a Ukrainian Interior Ministry spokesman as saying "key" separatist commander "Khodakovsky" has been detained by Ukrainian forces. There are suggestions it is not the Donetsk "Aleksandr Khodakovsky." [Turns out it's Semyon Khodakovsky, a "junior commander," Reuters says.]
Lots of reports from Donetsk of shelling in around the city today. This said to be shell falling in centre: http://t.co/MeR54qK4G1
— Tom Parfitt (@parfitt_tom) August 19, 2014