Some talks info from RFE/RL's news desk:
A Kremlin aide says Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will discuss the crisis in Ukraine at talks in Moscow on May 10.
Merkel will not attend a military parade on Red Square on May 9 commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two in Europe.
The event is being shunned by Western leaders angered by Russia's role in the conflict in Ukraine.
But Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said Merkel will be in Moscow for events on May 10 marking the victory over Nazi Germany and will hold a news conference with Putin.
Merkel and French President Francois Hollande helped broker a cease-fire between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine on February 12 but it has been violated many times.
Ushakov said 27 heads of state or government will attend the military parade and Putin has talks scheduled with many of them, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and Cuban leader Raul Castro.
(Reuters, TASS)
Here's an update from our news desk:
Ukraine says five of its soldiers were killed in clashes in the east despite the resumption of talks between the government and pro-Russian rebels over an endangered truce deal.
Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said on May 6 that over the past 24 hours four servicemen died when their vehicle hit a landmine close to Avdiivka, while a fifth was killed in an insurgent ambush.
Lysenko said that rebels continued to pound government positions around Mariupol, the largest remaining Ukrainian-controlled city in the conflict zone, and areas around the rebel stronghold of Donetsk.
The latest casualties come as officials from Russia, Ukraine, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) held closed-door talks in Minsk for the first time since the two sides agreed a shaky peace deal in February.
Both Kyiv and the insurgents accuse each other of continuing to violate the cease-fire deal.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in a statement ahead of the talks, "The first key point towards fulfilling the Minsk agreement is ensuring a comprehensive cease-fire."
(AFP, AP)
Moscow Court Considers Extending Savchenko's Pretrial Detention
By RFE/RL
A court in Moscow is considering whether to extend the pretrial detention of Ukrainian pilot and parliament member Nadia Savchenko.
The hearing comes a day after Savchenko's lawyer announced that Russian authorities have extended their preliminary inquiry into Savchenko’s case until November 13.
Savchenko has been jailed in Russia since July, when she says she was illegally brought into the country after being abducted by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
She is charged with complicity in the killing of two Russian journalists who died in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, as well as illegal border crossing.
She denies guilt and conducted a hunger strike for more than 80 days to protest her incarceration.
The United States said on May 5 that it is concerned over the “callous and outrageous” treatment of Savchenko by Russian authorities, and called for her immediate release.