Ukraine rebels reject talks, vow to seize more territory

DONETSK: Pro-Russian rebels on Friday vowed to conquer more territory in eastern Ukraine and ruled out peace talks after Kiev retreated from a long-disputed airport, casting aside Europe's latest push for a truce. The defiant comments from Donetsk separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko came as Ukraine renewed allegations of Russian army units fighting with rebels across the frontline dividing the war-torn country's industrial east. Western nations have branded the gunmen's recent surge as a land grab in violation of a September truce, while Washington's UN envoy dismissed Russian peace efforts as nothing more than a Moscow "occupation plan". Moscow strongly denies sending troops and weapons to help the rebels who now control swathes of eastern Ukraine, and accuses the West of orchestrating the downfall of the country's Russian-backed president last year. On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the Ukraine government of ordering "large-scale combat operations" and blamed civilian deaths on Kiev. The separatist chief of Donetsk, an insurgent stronghold and main industrial region in the heavily-Russified east of the ex-Soviet republic, said he would no longer pursue peace negotiations. "Our side will no longer push for any more truce talks," Zakharchenko said. "We are going to advance to the very border of Donetsk province." -TOI