Kyiv's ambassador to the United Nations:
Contact Group On Ukraine Assembles In Minsk
Representatives of Ukraine, Russia, the OSCE, and separatist-held regions of eastern Ukraine have arrived in Minsk for a meeting of the so-called Contact Group.
Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov, former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, OSCE special representative Heidi Tagliavini, and the authorized representatives from the two separatist regions -- Denis Pushilin from Donetsk and Vladislav Deinego from Luhansk, were all in the Belarusian capital for the February 10 meeting.
The Contact Group is the mechanism for talks between representatives of Ukraine, the pro-Russian rebels, Russia, and the OSCE, which produced a September 5 agreement on a cease-fire that failed to end the violence in east Ukraine.
The Contact Group representatives were meeting on the eve of a proposed summit of the leaders of France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine, which is tentatively planned in Minsk on February 11.
Based on reporting by Interfax and Reuters
That's really it, in a nutshell.
Our news desk also is reporting at least eight dead and more than 60 wounded in Kramatorsk shelling.
And the representatives of Ukraine, Russia, the OSCE, and separatist-held regions of eastern Ukraine have started their meeting in Minsk of the so-called Contact Group.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini speaking today at the European Parliament in Strasbourg about the situation in Ukraine:
"I would say, if this would not be leading us to a discussion that is much broader -- about our kind of world; our kind order or disorder; to preserve some sort of global balance, global order in our times -- this is really what is at stake."
"My message to the parties would be -- first of all, obviously, to Russia, but to those that will meet tomorrow night in Minsk -- to take this opportunity and finally -- finally -- get to agree on the implementation measures of the Minsk agreement. This is what it is all about. This is the only way in which we can start finding the way out of the crisis."