Heavy shelling increases fears for Ukraine cease-fire, Reuters reports:
Heavy shelling resumed around the pro-Russian separatist stronghold of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, a Reuters witness said.
More than a dozen mortar bombs were heard in the city centre, though it was unclear who had launched them or what was under fire. Fighting has often centred around Donetsk airport which is outside the city centre.
Heavy shelling of Donetsk at the weekend increased concerns that a ceasefire between the rebels and government forces could crumble.
It seems unlikely Putin and Obama discussed Ukraine much in China:
U.S. President Barack Obama discussed Iran, Syria, and Ukraine during three meetings on November 11 on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said that Putin and Obama spoke for "a total of approximately 15-20 minutes" during the gathering in Beijing.
Both Meehan and Russian officials said their conversations covered Iran, Syria, and Ukraine.
Neither country has released details.
Relations between Washington and Moscow are at their lowest since the Cold War, with Russia under Western sanctions over its annexation of Crimea in March and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.
On November 10, the United States accused Russia of providing "tanks and other heavy equipment" to separatists and urged Moscow to "stop fueling the fire."
Russia and the United States are two of the six powers seeking an agreement with Iran on its nuclear program by November 24.
OSCE responds to Kyiv complaints about all OSCE monitors in Ukraine being Russian:
On the anniversary of the World War I armistice, Ukraine's president says he wants to stop World War III, Interfax reports:
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says he wishes to stop the war in Ukraine and to prevent the beginning of WWIII.
"WWI ended 96 years ago. I want to stop the war now and to prevent anyone from starting the third world insanity," Poroshenko tweeted on Tuesday.
He also wrote on Facebook that four empires fell, about ten million people died and another ten million were wounded in WWI.
"No one in contemporary Europe celebrates the "Victory Day", just remembers the losses. There are no winners or losers in a war; all a war has is its survivors. In fact, [these are survivors] on both sides," Poroshenko stressed.
Two world wars are enough for humanity to understand the advantage of peaceful contests and competition, he said.
"Nowadays we are protecting the territorial integrity of Ukraine in the east and we will always protect our home land and our right to independence and development. Yet I believe in peaceful settlement and I deem it my duty to do the utmost to restore a peaceful life in Ukraine," the president said.
Here is today's map of the military situation in eastern Ukraine, courtesy of the National Security and Defense Council:
