Pro-Russian rebels reject truce talks

Zakharchenko said that his forces would attempt to push the front line back to the borders of the Donetsk region, a city they are in control of.

“The rebels will not make any attempts at ceasefire talks any more", he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, insisted that pro-separatist Ukrainian forces had authorised “the criminal shelling of civilian areas.”

Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany have issued a call to end fighting, while on Thursday, Ukrainian government troops withdrew from Donetsk airport's main terminal, a scene of bitter fighting in recent weeks.

The government said the military still retained control of parts of the airport, but six soldiers had died and 16 had been wounded.

UN officials have said that more than 5,000 people have been killed and more than a million have been displaced in fighting since the rebels seized a large swathe of Donetsk and Luhansk regions last April.