From Interfax:
The prime minister of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Alexander Zakharchenko, believes that the next meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine may be held in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, in a month.
"I think that it will happen in a month. We need at least one month
to basically implement the decisions that were adopted at the last
session of the Contact Group," he told Interfax.
Zakharchenko also said he was concerned by the Ukrainian side's
failure to observe the cease-fire terms.
"There is no total clarity as far as the cease-fire is concerned.
Shelling by the Ukrainian side continues. I would call it a sluggish
combat operation," he said.
Just in from Interfax:
Pro-Russia rebels say withdrawing artillery in east Ukraine
This just in from the French news agency AFP:
Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels were battling around the airport near the insurgent stronghold of Donetsk on Tuesday, sending flames and clouds of black smoke into the sky.
The fighting erupted despite a new truce agreement reached Saturday which calls for forces on both sides to cease-fire and pull back from the front line to create a buffer zone.
The airport, which was severely damaged in a fierce battle in May, was hit by heavy artillery and the rattle of automatic weapons fire could also be heard, the journalists said.
Donetsk is the largest insurgent-held city in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine but the airport remains under the control of government forces despite numerous rebel assaults.