Two Kiev Soldiers Killed in East Ukraine Fighting

Two Ukrainian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-Russian rebels and government forces over the past 24 hours, a military spokesman in Kiev said on Saturday.

The latest casualties came after a fresh European push to resolve the nearly two-year conflict floundered this week, with Russia and Ukraine saying they could not agree on polls in the rebel-held east.

"Unfortunately, two Ukrainian soldiers were killed in clashes with the occupation forces", military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told journalists.

The latest skirmish took place in the vicinity of the government-held port of Mariupol, when Ukrainian soldiers detected a reconnaissance group of rebels.

Five more Ukrainian soldiers were wounded over the past 24 hours in eastern Ukraine, Lysenko added.

On Thursday, France and Germany held a new round of talks with Ukraine and Russia in Paris as part of mediation efforts to try to end the nearly two-year war in the east of the former Soviet republic but no consensus was reached over elections in the separatist regions.

More than 9,000 people were killed and more than 21,000 injured since a Moscow-backed insurgency erupted in eastern Ukraine in April, 2014.