Pro-Russian rebels yesterday prepared to swap prisoners with their Ukrainian government foes as part of a battered ceasefire, as an adviser to Ukraine's president said Kiev had lost 179 troops in fighting over the past month.

“No one should have any illusions that it could achieve military supremacy over Russia or to put pressure on us in any form"

Germany's finance ministry yesterday rejected a Greek request to European partners for a six-month extension to its EU loan programme, but the German vice chancellor called it a "starting point".

Greece's crunch talks with its European creditors broke down after just four hours today, pushing the country closer towards a potential exit from the single currency.

Street-to-street fighting broke out for the first time inside a flashpoint town in east Ukraine yesterday, officials and pro-Russian rebels said, dealing a harsh blow to a fragile ceasefire just three days old.

Not all of Philip Levine's poetry was about his hometown of Detroit, but a lot of it was.

A shaky truce in Ukraine was already at risk on its second day yesterday with both the Kiev government and pro-Russian separatists accusing each other of attacks holding up an agreed pull-back of heavy weapons from the frontline.

Moscow said yesterday it would respond to the latest EU sanctions over the Ukraine conflict which target several prominent figures including a popular singer, condemning them as "inconsistent and illogical".

Ceasefire: Both sides seem willing, but wrangling over who pulls back from the frontlines first.

The leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany were to hold peace talks yesterday aimed at halting a 10-month war in Ukraine where dozens were killed in the latest fighting.

Russia said yesterday that President Vladimir Putin would not tolerate any ultimatums over Ukraine after a report said Germany had given him until tomorrow to agree a peace plan or face new sanctions.

Europe yesterday postponed sanctions against Moscow ahead of a Ukraine peace summit as US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel weighed options to end 10 months of bloodshed.

Greece was locked yesterday in intense talks with its EU partners after the country's prime minister stuck to his anti-austerity guns with the deadline for a deal needed to avoid the risk of default and a euro exit just days away.