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Ukraine Sees First Direct Combat in Two Months Before EU Meeting

  • Rebel attack threatens to derail truce negotiatiated in Minsk
  • Ukrainian president holds talks with EU foreign-policy chief

Ukraine’s military said its troops engaged pro-Russian insurgents in the first direct combat in two months, just hours before the country’s president was due to meet the European Union’s foreign-policy chief in Kiev.

“It’s difficult to say why the attacks increased,” Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the military in the Ukrainian capital, said during a video webcast on Monday. “But we are ready for any developments, including a major offensive.”