Ukraine separatists want ‘special status’

Pro-Russia separatists sat down for preliminary Ukraine peace talks yesterday due to resume later this week in the Belarusian capital Minsk, saying they would be prepared to stay part of Ukraine if they were granted "special status".

The meeting of the so-called contact group, at which the rebels also said one of their key conditions would be for Kiev to immediately end its military offensive, ended without any details being announced but a promise to continue consultations. The separatists issued their call as the Ukrainian military faced a run of reverses on the battlefield which Kiev has ascribed to support for the rebels from at least 1,600 Russian combat troops. Moscow denies its troops are in Ukraine.

Russia, in particular, has been pushing for a fresh meeting of the contact group, in which Ukraine is informally represented by Ukrainian ex-president Leonid Kuchma.