1/7Participants gathered on Wednesday, May 14 for talks on how to quell a pro-Russian rebellion in the east but Kyiv's refusal to let separatists take part cast doubt on whether the meeting could defuse the crisi in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, May 14, 2014.
Ukrainian leaders launched national unity talks in Kyiv aimed at diffusing the biggest crisis the country has faced in its modern history.
2/7Acting Ukrainian President Oleksander Turchinov (center) and Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk (left) take part in talks aimed at quelling a pro-Russian rebellion in the east, in Kyiv, May 14, 2014.
Ukrainian leaders launched national unity talks in Kyiv aimed at diffusing the biggest crisis the country has faced in its modern history.
3/7A worker at the state-owned printing house inspects a voting ballot for the May 25 snap presidential elections with 21 candidates taking part, in Kyiv, May 14, 2014.
Ukrainian leaders launched national unity talks in Kyiv aimed at diffusing the biggest crisis the country has faced in its modern history.
4/7Mykhaylo Okhendovsky, head of Ukraine's Central Election Commission, shows a long ballot with names of 21 presidential candidates, at a news conference, in Kyiv, May 14, 2014.
Ukrainian leaders launched national unity talks in Kyiv aimed at diffusing the biggest crisis the country has faced in its modern history.
5/7Remains of mortar shells are seen near a destroyed Ukrainian army mobile mortar truck in the eastern Ukrainian village of Oktyabrskoe, May 14, 2014.
Ukrainian leaders launched national unity talks in Kyiv aimed at diffusing the biggest crisis the country has faced in its modern history.
6/7Local villagers collect parts of a destroyed Ukrainian armored personnel carrier. Pro-Russian separatists ambushed Ukrainian troops on May 13, making it the heaviest loss of life in a single clash since Kyiv sent soldiers to put down a rebellion in the country's east, village of Oktyabrskoe, May 14, 2014.
Ukrainian leaders launched national unity talks in Kyiv aimed at diffusing the biggest crisis the country has faced in its modern history.
7/7A boy plays with a machinegun belt as local citizens collect parts of a destroyed amored personnel carrier, village of Oktyabrskoye village, near Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, May 14, 2014.
Ukrainian leaders launched national unity talks in Kyiv aimed at diffusing the biggest crisis the country has faced in its modern history.
Ukraine's acting president says the army has destroyed two military bases of pro-Russian insurgents.
Oleksandr Turchynov told Ukraine's parliament Thursday troops destroyed an insurgent military base outside the eastern town of Kramatorsk in one overnight operation. In another, troops obliterated a separatist base in the nearby town of Slovyansk. Turchynov said troops also had control of a television tower in Slovyansk.
Insurgents have seized government buildings across eastern Ukraine, fought the Ukrainian military and declared "sovereignty" in two eastern regions.
Ukraine launched talks Wednesday on national unity without the participation of the pro-Russian separatists who are seeking autonomy from Kyiv in the country's east and southeast.
The talks, which opened 11 days ahead of Ukrainian presidential elections, are part of a "road map" plan backed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Analysts say the deliberate omission of separatists from the discussions raises doubts about whether the meetings will ease ethnic tensions threatening to rip the country apart.
Separatists have dismissed the Kyiv talks.
After Sunday's "sovereignty" votes in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, separatist leaders asked Moscow to consider formally "absorbing" the territories into the Russian Federation. The Kremlin has not yet responded.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday Ukraine was "as close to civil war as you can get" and that a solution must be found that satisfies all of its regions.
He said Ukraine's May 25 presidential polls cannot be legitimate if they are impeded by fighting.
