Here is an update on the proposed talks in Astana from RFE/RL's news desk:
Kazakhstan says the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany may hold talks on the Ukraine conflict in the Kazakh capital, Astana, at the end of the month.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev's office issued the statement on January 15 after Nazarbaev and his Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko discussed arrangements for the summit by telephone.
President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, was quoted as saying the date of a summit could be announced only when plans were finalized.
Poroshenko had said late last month that a four-way summit would be held in Astana on January 15.
But German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande said they would only attend if progress was made on the implementation of a cease-fire and peace plan for eastern Ukraine, and the meeting did not materialize.
At least 12 civilians were killed when a rocket hit a bus on January 13, one of the deadliest incidents since the cease-fire deal was signed on September 5.
(AFP, Reuters)