Peace talks in Minsk falter 

MINSK – Peace talks in Minsk between the warring sides in the conflict in eastern Ukraine broke up after six hours on August 3 amid reports that they failed to secure progress on a planned buffer zone. The talks in the Belarusian capital are seeking to salvage a sweeping but largely ineffective ceasefire signed by the Ukrainian government and Russian-backed rebels six months ago. The latest meetings were meant to agree to the withdrawal of smaller weapons from a proposed 30-kilometer-wide buffer zone, which splits rebel-run districts from the rest of Ukraine. Donetsk separatist negotiator Denis Pushilin said the discussions were “aborted by the Ukrainian side” because of Kyiv’s refusal to move back its forces from four strategic locations. Envoys from Kyiv and Moscow did not speak to reporters. Ukraine has been under pressure from European allies to back the extended buffer zone. Yet several hundred residents of the Kyiv-controlled frontline port of Mariupol rallied against the pullback on August 2 out of fear that it would only provoke a new rebel advance. Meanwhile in Kyiv, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko convened his generals on August 4 amid signs that his latest bid to negotiate an end to clashes with pro-Russian rebels is faltering while violence is rising. “We need to clearly determine a plan for strengthening our defenses in case of the conflict’s escalation,” the president was quoted as telling members of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council. Council Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov reported the death of three more soldiers in overnight rocket attacks. Kyiv said four of its troops had been killed on August 3, and the rebels reported one loss in the past two days. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Agence France-Presse, Kyiv Post, Interfax and TASS)