Just in from RFE/RL's News Desk:
Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine say peace talks due to take place in Minsk on January 30 have been postponed.
Denis Pushilin, who represents rebels holding territory in Ukraine's Donetsk region, said he and Luhansk separatist official Vladislav Deinego would leave Minsk for Moscow.
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry had said on January 29 that talks involving representatives of Ukraine, Russia, the separatists holding territory in eastern Ukraine, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe would meet in Minsk for talks aimed at ending hostilities.
Pushilin said the Russian-backed separatists would agree to a cease-fire with Ukrainian forces based on the current line of contact between the two sides.
Rebels have taken hundreds of square kilometers from Ukrainian forces since the first line of contact was established in a cease-fire agreement in September.
But Pushilin added that separatists are prepared to take more territory in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions if Ukrainian forces launch an "offensive."
PHOTO GALLERY: Death In Donetsk
Civilians Suffer, Again, As Shells Rain Down On Donetsk
VIDEO: At least six people were killed in shelling which hit a cultural center and a bus in the separatist-held city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on January 30. Separately, the Ukrainian government said five of its troops were killed in the previous 24 hours. The casualties came at the end of one of the bloodiest weeks in Ukraine for several months. Warning: Contains disturbing images. (Reuters)
