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             Putin Calls for 'Comprehensive' Dialogue With Ukraine

   by VOA News

   Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for a "comprehensive"
   dialogue among all the conflicting parties in the crisis in eastern
   Ukraine that has killed hundreds.
   The Russian leader told reporters in Moscow Sunday that he welcomed the
   cease-fire called by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.  But, Putin
   said "unfortunately," there appeared to be artillery fire "from the
   Ukrainian side" late Saturday, a day after Mr. Poroshenko said the
   unilateral cease-fire would begin.
   Poroshenko laid out a peace plan late Saturday, urging all parties to
   support the plan and settle their differences through dialogue.
   Earlier Saturday, pro-Russian separatists rejected Ukraine's unilateral
   cease-fire.
   Ukraine's border guard service said rebels attacked one of its posts in
   the Donetsk region, hours after President Poroshenko ordered the halt
   in fighting.  At least three troops were wounded.
   A group of fighters with the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic
   gathered in the Donetsk town square Saturday to take a military oath to
   defend their land.
   Kyiv expressed concerns after Russian President Vladimir Putin put
   troops in central Russia on "combat alert" for snap drills. Russian
   officials say the drills involve some 65,000 troops.
   Poroshenko's cease-fire ordered Ukraine's military and security forces
   to halt their operations against separatists for seven days.  But he
   said the order did not mean Ukrainian forces would not fight back if
   attacked.
   A NATO military officer told VOA Friday that the new Russian troops
   near the border with Ukraine do not appear to be engaged in "border
   patrol" duties, but instead seem to be concentrating in staging areas
   and preparing and awaiting future orders. He said this is not "an
   encouraging sign."
   But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the deployment had been
   planned in advance and was designed to reinforce Russia's border
   controls.
   Ukraine and Russia have been locked in a tense standoff since late
   February when Russian forces moved into the Crimean Peninsula. Russia
   annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March, and in April, the pro-Russian
   insurgency erupted in Ukraine's east.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/putin-calls-for-comprehensive-dialogue-with-ukraine/1942370.html