Alexander Zakharchenko

The Russian ministry said Moscow must first ratify the friendship agreements with Donetsk and Luhansk

Pro-Russian Serbian nationalists have mourned the killing on August 31 of the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic in Ukraine, Alexander Zakharchenko.

The leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France will hold their latest round of telephone talks on July 24 to discuss the crisis in Ukraine, Kiev and Moscow said.

The talks - the first since Emmanuel Macron took office in France - come after the latest uptick in violence in the east of Ukraine.  

Photo: ITAR-TASS/Zurab Dzhavakhadze

Self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Leader Alexander Zakharchenko proposed on Tuesday a three-year transition period toward a new state called Malorossiya ("Little Russia") as a way to settle the three-year conflict.

Russian-backed rebels in east Ukraine have proclaimed the creation of a new state known as Malorossiya, which translates as "Little Russia." Germany has condemned the proposal as "completely unacceptable", Deutsche Welle reported.

Arseny Pavlov, a military leader of the pro-Russian rebels known by his nom de guerre "Motorola," has been killed in an explosion in Donetsk.

"Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is violating the ceasefire and has declared war on us," said Aleksandr Zakharchenko, who is the prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.

The authorities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) will introduce a special regime of self-governance on its territory and plan holding local elections on October 18.

This was announced by DPR Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko in a statement on Thursday, TASS news agency reports.

Fighting in eastern Ukraine has escalated over the past 24 hours, leaving six government troops dead and 12 wounded, a Ukrainian military spokesman said on Tuesday.

There are no more rebel weapons in Eastern Ukraine's front line, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic claims.

According to Aleksandar Zakharchenko, who heads the "Republic", the heavy arms have been "fully removed" under a ceasefire deal agreed in Minsk, Belarus, in February.

The leader of the Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko said that 90% of its forces have been retreated from the contact line with Ukraine on Thursday.