Ukraine peace talks down to wire as fighting rages

 Diplomats scrambled on Feb. 10 to finalise a peace deal for war-torn Ukraine ahead of a crunch summit in Minsk, with the warring sides pushing to gain ground ahead of any truce.
 
Fighting in the east killed at least 12 people, including seven Ukrainian troops, as pro-Russia rebels sought to encircle railway hub Deblatseve, and Ukrainian forces launched a counter-offensive around the strategic port of Mariupol.
 
Ukrainian forces took control of three villages east of Mariupol, around 90 kilometres south of rebel stronghold Donetsk, and fierce fighting was going on for control of two more, senior interior ministry advisor Zoryan Shkiryak said.
 
Rebels, diplomats and mediators gathered in the Belarussian capital to bridge gaps on a possible peace deal, which the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany hope to come and sign in Minsk on Wednesday.
 
Rebel negotiator Denis Pushilin told the separatists' news agency that he was heading to Minsk for talks with mediators from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) as well as Russian and Ukrainian representatives.
 
French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have been conducting frantic diplomacy, taking the "last chance" deal to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.    

Merkel then headed to Washington for lengthy talks with the US President Barack Obama Monday on the peace plan to defuse fighting that has killed at least 5,400 people since April.            

Obama agreed to hold off on sending arms to Ukraine until truce efforts have played out, voicing hope that a deal could be reached to end the 10-month conflict on the eastern edge of Europe.