No consensus on polls in rebel east Ukraine, says Russian foreign minister

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that ‘no consensus’ has been reached over the timing of polls in rebel-held east Ukraine, after France and Germany pushed for elections to be held by the end of July.

The top diplomats from Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany met in Paris on Thursday but failed to make a breakthrough on a stalled peace plan for east Ukraine thrashed out in the Belarussian capital Minsk a year ago.

Lavrov said that Germany and France had pushed for the meeting to call on all sides in the conflict to hold elections by the end of July, but that Kiev had opposed the demand.

“We were ready to support it but the Ukrainian side requested that it not be insisted upon. As a result, no consensus was reached,” Lavrov said in comments posted on the foreign ministry website on Friday.

The local elections in the areas held by pro-Russian rebels whom Kiev and the West say Moscow arms and directs - are seen as a key step in untangling a conflict that has claimed over 9,100 lives since April 2014.

Low-level fighting is dragging on in flashpoints along the frontline despite a string of ceasefire deals tamping down violence around most of the conflict zone. Ukraine has long insisted there must be a total cessation of hostilities in the country’s restive east before holding the polls.