Blinken, Lavrov to meet next week over Ukraine crisis, barring a Russian invasion

 
INA-sources
 
US Secretary of Antony Blinken has accepted an invitation to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov late next week provided Russia does not invade Ukraine, the US State Department said on Thursday.
 
Ukraine’s military says it has recorded dozens of ceasefire violations by pro-Russian separatists  
The Ukrainian military has recorded 60 ceasefire violations by pro-Russian separatists over the past 24 hours, it said on Friday, with one soldier injured. 
 
Incidents of shelling across the line dividing government forces and separatists increased sharply on Thursday in what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called a "big provocation". 
 
In a report, the military said separatists opened fire on more than 10 settlements, using heavy artillery, mortars and a tank.  
 
Several Russian mechanised infantry units have returned to their bases in the regions of Dagestan and Chechnya after completing drills in Crimea, the Interfax news agency cited Russia’s defence ministry as saying on Friday.
 
Russia said this week it has started pulling back some troops from areas adjacent to Ukraine. But Kyiv and the West have disputed that, saying some units and equipment appeared to be replaced by others.
 
Separately, Interfax cited the ministry as saying that a train loaded with tanks of the Western military district has departed an undisclosed location to deliver them back to their base in the Nizhny Novgorod province.
 
Source: France24