France, Germany call for immediate cease-fire:
French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko have called for "an immediate cease-fire" in eastern Ukraine a day after the latest peace talks collapsed.
Speaking by phone to discuss a surge in deadly fighting between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian rebels, the three leaders also expressed their regret for "the failure of the talks" in Minsk, the French presidency said.
Fighting has been particularly intense in recent days in and around the government-controlled town of Debaltseve, where rebels are trying to encircle Ukrainian troops.
The Ukrainian military said on February 1 that 13 of its soldiers were killed and 20 wounded in Debaltseve and elsewhere in the war-torn east in the past 24 hours.
At least 17 civilians also died in fighting across the region, government officials and separatist rebels said.
More than 5,100 people have been killed since the fighting began in April.(AFP, UNIAN)