Ukraine seeks Western help to end revolt

UKRAINE, June 23 (AFP):- Ukraine pressed German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other Western allies on Monday to help end a pro-Russian uprising that has continued to rage in the industrial east despite Kiev's unilateral ceasefire.

President Petro Poroshenko conducted another furious round of telephone diplomacy while his top diplomat prepared to outline the details of Kiev's new peace plan to EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

Poroshenko will also sign an historic EU trade pact on Friday that crowns his May 25 election promise to make the decisive move westward-a move that is strongly opposed by Russia and lies at the heart of the current crisis.

The new president's high-stakes peace push envisions talks with eastern representatives but not rebel leaders-a condition that Russian President Vladimir Putin says will not help end the 11-week revolt.

Putin threw his weight behind Poroshenko's plan over the weekend provided it also leads to constitutional changes granting better protections to ethnic Russians who remain wary of the new government Kiev.

Insurgent commanders have ignored Poroshenko's overtures and continued waging their campaign to gain independence and eventually join Russia-a drive thus fur resisted by the Kremlin.

AFP reporters near the Russian border saw rebels push back and in some cases encircle government soldiers dispatched by Poroshenko to stem the flow of weapons and gunmen into the conflict zone.

"Their forces tried to blitz us (on Friday) but things turned out very differently," a 54-year-old rebel commander named Oleksandr said in Izvarini, a small town about 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of the separatist stronghold of Lugansk.

"They are surrounded," he claimed. "They have no food and water... and no chance to escape."