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| Vladimir Putin calls for Ukrainian troops to withdraw from south-east | Vladimir Putin calls for Ukrainian troops to withdraw from south-east |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Vladimir Putin has called for Ukrainian troops to pull out of the south-east of the country, in a conversation with Angela Merkel on Thursday. | Vladimir Putin has called for Ukrainian troops to pull out of the south-east of the country, in a conversation with Angela Merkel on Thursday. |
| The Russian president said military withdrawal, an end to violence and a national dialogue were the key issues in Ukraine, according to a Kremlin briefing on the phone conversation. | The Russian president said military withdrawal, an end to violence and a national dialogue were the key issues in Ukraine, according to a Kremlin briefing on the phone conversation. |
| A spokesman for Merkel said the focus of the call had been the German chancellor asking for Putin's assistance in freeing seven observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe who are being held by pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine. The Kremlin said Merkel initiated the call. | A spokesman for Merkel said the focus of the call had been the German chancellor asking for Putin's assistance in freeing seven observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe who are being held by pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine. The Kremlin said Merkel initiated the call. |
| A crowd of pro-Russians hurling rocks and Molotov cocktails took control of the prosecutor's office in Donetsk on Thursday as Kiev's hold on the east continued to ebb away. | |
| Several of the 100 police officers guarding the building were injured and in some cases severely beaten as they were stripped of their weapons and shields. The pro-Russians hoisted the Russian flag, barricaded the front door and burned Ukrainian symbols in the street. | |
| The Russian foreign ministry said earlier on Thursday that a proposal from Ukraine's prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, to hold a poll on Ukrainian unity and territorial integrity was a sham that would only deepen the crisis in the country. | |
| On Wednesday Yatsenyuk said the Kiev government would send to parliament a law on conducting the nationwide poll on 25 May, when the country is also due to hold a presidential election. | On Wednesday Yatsenyuk said the Kiev government would send to parliament a law on conducting the nationwide poll on 25 May, when the country is also due to hold a presidential election. |
| The Russian foreign ministry said the plans were "cynical" given what it said was Kiev's military operation against "its own people". | The Russian foreign ministry said the plans were "cynical" given what it said was Kiev's military operation against "its own people". |