Talks aimed at settling the conflict between pro-Russian separatists and government forces in eastern Ukraine ended without a breakthrough on Saturday, according to dpa. Former Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma, the government's envoy to the meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group, said the participants could not agree on either a ceasefire or the withdrawal of heavy weaponry, the Interfax news agency reported. The discussions lasted three hours in the Belarusian capital, Minsk. The renewed peace effort comes amid heavy fighting between government troops and separatist militias in eastern Ukraine. The contact group, which consists of Russia, Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), negotiated the last ceasefire with the separatists in September.
