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US warns of ‘significant’ Ukraine escalation ahead of key meeting

The Kremlin did not rule out Putin and Poroshenko holding direct talks, but would not confirm a bilateral meeting.

The two met briefly in France at ceremonies to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings at the beginning of June.

Officials are set to discuss the crisis as well as trade following Ukraine’s signing of key political and economic agreements with the European Union in June.

The Association Agreement with the European Union opens up to Kiev the huge EU market of 500 million customers.

But the talks are set to take place against a background of high tensions.

An AFP journalist witnessed heavy fighting to the south of Donetsk, the main rebel bastion in eastern Ukraine, where separatists said they had deployed fresh tanks and artillery.

Explosions rang out and smoke rose from towns to the south of the city. Ukraine’s military said four soldiers had been killed and 31 wounded in the past 24 hours.

The Kremlin also ratcheted up the pressure by announcing plans to send another aid convoy into eastern Ukraine “this week”.

Russia unilaterally sent about 230 lorries carrying what it claimed was 1,800 tonnes of humanitarian aid to the rebel-held city of Lugansk on Friday after accusing Kiev of intentionally delaying the mission. Kiev condemned the move as a “direct invasion”.

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Some 400,000 people have fled their homes since April in fighting that has left residents in some besieged rebel held cities without water or power for weeks.

“We would like to agree on the conditions to send the convoy on the same route with the same participation of Ukrainian border guards and customs officers as soon as possible,” Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow.

He also played down hopes for a major breakthrough in Minsk, saying only that talks would “facilitate the exchange of opinions” about “efforts to start the political process to settle the political crisis”.

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