Ukraine, Russia talks continue as Kiev holds Moscow troops

MINSK: Key peace talks dragged on between Russian and Ukraine leaders Tuesday as heavy fighting raged on the ground and the Kremlin admitted for the first time its troops had entered Ukrainian territory.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko shook hands with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the start, but no breakthrough was apparently made by the time the leaders headed for dinner after four hours of negotiations alongside top EU officials.
"Everything is ahead of us. So far the multi-format (talks) are going on," Poroshenko told a small group of reporters after emerging from negotiations attended by foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, before heading to dinner.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that a face-to-face meeting between Poroshenko and Putin "will happen for sure", but pointedly declined to say whether or not the bilateral meeting would take place on Tuesday.
Tuesday's talks began after the Kremlin admitted for the first time its troops had entered Ukrainian territory.
Concerns spiralled that the conflict could escalate when Ukraine on Monday released footage purporting to show 10 Russian soldiers it had captured on its territory.
A Moscow military source claimed the soldiers had crossed into Ukraine "by accident".
"In Minsk at this meeting the fate of the world and Europe is being decided," Poroshenko said in Russian as the roundtable with Putin kicked off alongside top EU representatives and the leaders of Kazakhstan and Belarus.
Putin, however, barely mentioned the brutal fighting that has killed some 2,200 people in the east of Ukraine in his opening remarks, focusing instead on the damage Kiev's recent agreement with the EU could have on Russia's economy.
On Tuesday it was announced that the Russian economy is nearing recession. At the same time it was also reported that the Ukrainian currency slid to a new record low against the dollar.
On the ground, battles raged in east Ukraine, AFP journalist reporting fierce shelling in a town close to the Russian border where Kiev accuses Moscow of trying to open up a "new front" into government-held territory.
EU foreign policy chief Ashton called for the talks to be held in "the best possible spirit" after Putin strode confidently towards the marble-lined meeting room trailing a grim-faced Poroshenko in his wake.
Kazakhstan leader Nursultan Nazarbayev urged both men to speak directly to each other or risk threatening the stability of the "entire world".
Soldiers captured
Kiev's security service said on Monday that paratroopers from Russia's 98th airborne division had been captured by Ukrainian forces about 50km southeast of the main rebel stronghold of Donetsk.
Ukrainian media aired footage purporting to show the Russians telling an interrogator that they crossed into Ukraine in armoured convoys.
A Russian defence ministry source on Tuesday said soldiers had been "taking part in patrolling a section of the Russian-Ukrainian border".
"They crossed it most likely by accident, on an unequipped, unmarked section", Russian news agencies quoted the source as saying.
Kiev has long accused Moscow of stoking the separatist insurgency raging in its east – charges the Kremlin has repeatedly denied.
New front
Ukraine's forces accused Russian troops of trying to open a "new front" after an armoured convoy crossed onto government-held territory Monday in the south of Donetsk region.
AFP journalists reported shelling in Novoazovsk, a town on the coast of the Azov sea, and had to briefly take shelter in the City Hall together with the mayor.
Kiev also accused Russian army helicopters of launching a ferocious missile attack on a Ukrainian border position further to the north, killing four border guards and bringing the death toll to 12 soldiers in the past 24 hours.
Local authorities in the main rebel bastion of Donetsk said three civilians were killed in shelling overnight as the army pummels insurgent fighters.
Officials from the EU and Russian-led Customs Union were set to discuss the crisis and trade issues after Ukraine's new pro-Western leaders signed a landmark deal with the European Union in June that riled Russia.
The refusal by Kiev's former president Viktor Yanukovych to ink the EU deal last year in favour of Moscow's economic bloc sparked the protests that eventually led to his removal and set off a chain of events that saw Russia annex Ukraine's Crimea region and the pro-Moscow insurgency.
As Ukraine's political transition continues, Poroshenko on Monday announced long-awaited early parliamentary elections for Oct 26.
The Kremlin announced plans on Monday to send another aid convoy into eastern Ukraine "this week".
Russia unilaterally sent about 230 lorries carrying 1,800 tonnes of "humanitarian" aid to the rebel-held city of Lugansk on Friday. – AFP