Ukraine Vows To Bring Peace To East
Fighting has intensified around the town of Sloviansk where Pro Russian rebels shot down an Army helicopter on Thursday , killing 12 troops
Dozens of separatists died on Monday in a battle at Donetsk airport , Russia has again called for Ukraine to stop its military campaign against the Pro Moscow rebels
President Vladimir Putin said the "bloodshed" had to be stopped , inn a phone conversation with French President Francois Hollande on Friday
"Putin noted the need for the authorities in Kiev to immedietely halt the violence and for the start of direct dialogue between Kiev and representatives of the country's South Eastern regions" the Kremlin said in a statement
Interim Defence Minister Mykhailo Kovel , earlier told reporters that Ukrainian forces would continue operations in border areas until these regions begin to live normally , until there is peace , he again accused Russia of backing the rebels , a claim Moscow denies
President Petro Poroshenko has said Ukraine will punish "bandits" who shot down the helicopter, among those killed was maj. Gen. Serhiy Kulchytskiy , head of combat and special training in Ukraine's National Guard
The leader of the self declared Donetsk People's Republic , Alexander Borodai , told Russia's T.V. Rain that the only condition for negotiations with Kiev was the withdrawal of its troops from the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk , and he denied any knowledge of the whereabouts of a team of monitors from the OSCE , held by separatists
The self proclaimed mayor of Sloviansk has said they will be freed soon , but nothing has been heard of them since Monday
A second group of observers , based in Luhansk remain unaccounted for , separatists there told the interfax -Ukraine news agency , they had released the team
In another development , Ukraine has pppaid a part of its gas debit to Russia after talks between both sides and the European Union , reports suggest Ukraine has paid state gas company Gazprom $786 mil (£ 469mil € 5766 mil) of the 3.5 bn. Russia claims it is owed