Hope for boost on Ukraine elections

European foreign ministers are meeting to discuss the situation in Ukraine, where the authorities have launched a crackdown on pro-Russian separatists. Austria hopes backing will be given to this month's presidential election at the Council of Europe summit in Vienna. It comes a day after Ukrainian security forces began an "anti-terrorism operation" in the country's east. Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said four soldiers and an estimated 30 separatists were killed near Sloviansk. He claimed that up to 800 well-armed and well-trained militants were hiding among civilians in the town, where government buildings have been seized and checkpoints set up. A local citizen journalist reports that 17 separatists were killed on Monday, according to BBC.