So it looks like the Astana summit isn't going to happen.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has told Russian President Vladimir Putin that a four-way summit on the Ukraine crisis will not be held until progress has been made on the Minsk peace plan.
Merkel spokesman Steffen Seibert said Merkel told Putin via phone on January 10 that she expects Moscow to use its influence on pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine to reach "consensual solutions."
She told Putin that a summit of French, German, Russian, and Ukrainian leaders proposed for the Kazakh capital, Astana, cannot be held due to a lack of progress on the situation.
Such a summit had been proposed to be held in Astana on January 15.
Those countries' foreign ministers are to meet in Berlin on January 12.
Seibert said Merkel also discussed the Ukraine crisis with Poroshenko.
More than 4,700 people have been killed in fighting in eastern Ukraine since April.
Just reupping this heartbreaking video from late last week: A Family Copes With Tragedy In Wartorn Donetsk
The Guardian's wrap-up of what looks set to be a non-summit:
Barring any major developments that ends the live blogging for today.
Crisis meeting set fot today in Berlin:
The foreign ministers of Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France are scheduled to meet on January 12 for talks on the crisis in Ukraine.
The meeting in Berlin comes days ahead of a possible meeting of the same countries' leaders in the Kazakh capital, Astana over the conflict in Ukraine.
But German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Russian President Vladimir Putin on January 10 that it was too early for such a summit.
Merkel said that for the meeting to be successful there has to be progress on implementing a much-violated peace deal that was reached in Minsk in September.
More than 4,700 people have been killed in fighting between government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine since April.
Russia denies playing any role in the conflict, despite evidence -- some provided by NATO -- to the contrary.
French President Francois Hollande has said he would go to Astana only on condition there's a chance of making progress.
According to the AP news agency, Merkel briefly met both Hollande and Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko in Paris on January 11.
Merkel and Poroshenko were among world leaders in the French capital to attend a rally to honor the victims of the recent three days of terror in Paris.
Meanwhile, on the ground in eastern Ukraine, heavy fighting was reporting on January 11 in Donetsk, the biggest pro-Russian rebel stronghold.
According to the AFP news agency, rocket and mortar fire echoed across the city in what it described as some of the fiercest fighting since last summer.
AFP quoted a Ukraine military spokesman as saying insurgents had targeted government force positions -- mostly around the largely destroyed international airport -- 41 times by the evening on January 11.
Quoted by AFP, rebel leaders claimed Ukrainian government shelling had damaged a power station providing electricity to Donetsk's large Zasyadko coal mine.
A local mine union official said 331 miners working at the time of the power outage were briefly trapped underground until power returned later.
Independent Ukrainian Miners Union Chairman Mykhaylo Volynets said everyone had been safely evacuated within five hours of the power cut.
There was no official comment about the incident from either pro-Ukrainian officials in the region or the military. (AP, AFP and TASS)
Russian, Latvian foreign ministers to meet today:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is due to meet his Latvian counterpart, Edgars Rinkevics, in Moscow on January 12.
According to TASS, talks are expected to focus on the crisis in eastern Ukraine.
The Baltic state is the current holder of the EU's six-month rotating presidency, giving the meeting extra weight.
On January 7, Rinkevics said he had seen "signals" from the Kremlin indicating "a willingness" to cooperate with the EU.
Rinkevics said an improvement in the situation in eastern Ukraine, where Russia holds influence over pro-Russian separatists battling Ukrainian forces, could result in a softening of sanctions. (TASS)