Russia to seek immediate ceasefire at Ukraine talks

Reuters
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during a news conference in Moscow, January 21, 2015. Lavrov said on Wednesday Moscow would do all it could to resolve the crisis in Ukraine following a surge in fighting in the east of the country. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he would seek an immediate ceasefire in east Ukraine at talks in Berlin on Wednesday with the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Germany and France. Lavrov told a news conference a ceasefire agreement reached last September was failing in east Ukraine partly because a separation line agreed between the Ukrainian government and the separatists was not reflected by the sides' actual positions. Ukraine on Tuesday accused the pro-Russian separatists of seizing more territory in the east since the ceasefire deal was reached and said Kiev would demand its return in any future peace talks. (Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska, Lidia Kelly and Thomas Grove, Editing by Timothy Heritage)