Kiev warns it won't call new truce, suggests fresh talks (Roundup)

Kiev, July 8 (IANS/EFE) Ukraine warned Tuesday it will not call a fresh unilateral ceasefire to try to put an end to the separatist conflict in the east of the country between pro-Russian militants and government troops but it suggested the next round of trilateral talks be held in the eatsern Donetsk region.

Defence Minister Valeri Gueletei said at a press conference that Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko has firmly decided not to hold ceasefire talks with the separatists and added that there would be no negotiations until the rebels lay down their weapons, Efe news agency reported.

Late June, the warring sides agreed to a 10-day truce which did not prevent hostilities in the east.

Kiev's refusal to declare a new ceasefire came amid military gains on the Ukrainian side as pro-Russian separatist militias Saturday abandoned the cities of Slaviansk and Kramatorsk which were their main bastions, and retreated to Donetsk, a city of nearly one million inhabitants.

Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council Deputy Secretary Mikhail Koval said Sunday that the government's strategy was to besiege Donetsk and Lugansk and take other measures that "will force the separatists and criminals to disarm".

Meanwhile, the pro-Russian separatists Monday entered the city of Popasnaya, located near the administrative border of Ukraine's eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, without opposition due to the absence of government troops in the area, Russian news agency Novorrossía reported.

Popasnaya, with 20,000 inhabitants, is an important railway crossing point located 20 km northeast of Stakhanov, the headquarters of the separatists' backup forces.

Meanwhile, Donetsk Mayor Alexander Lukyanchenko said Tuesday the next meeting of a trilateral contact group on the Ukraine crisis could be held in a town of the country's eastern Donetsk region,.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko had suggested holding the next round of talks of the contact group, involving Ukraine, Russia and the Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), in Donetsk region's northern town of Sviatohirsk, Lukyanchenko said.

"I believe the situation can only be settled through talks, the ones at the highest level," he added.

However, the proposal was immediately rejected by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), as Sviatohirsk is controlled by Kiev.

"I don't think we'll go there because it is unsafe," Xinhua cited Interfax news agency as quoting Alexander Borodai, chief of the DPR.

"We'd consider Donetsk, or any city in Russia or Belarus. There are lots of places that are equally safe for all parties of the dialogue."

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said Kiev has been waiting for clear signals from Moscow and insurgents in eastern regions about their readiness for the talks.

"We need a coherent and clear message, in particular from Russia, that the separatists are going to talk," Klimkin said after a meeting here with his Italian counterpart, Federica Mogherini.