Dozens killed before Minsk peace talks

The leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany were due to hold peace talks on Wednesday aimed at halting a 10-month war in Ukraine where dozens were killed in the latest fighting.

China applauded the recent intensive mediation efforts in solving the Ukraine crisis, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Wednesday.

The summit was the climax of a frantic diplomatic push to prevent the worst East-West crisis since the end of the Cold War from escalating, with US President Barack Obama warning Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia will be made to pay if the talks fail.