俄乌领导人周二举行会谈

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko meets Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as Kyiv levels new accusations against Moscow of fueling a pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine.

The meeting in Minsk, Belarus, which also includes senior European Union officials, represents a fresh diplomatic push to end five months of fighting that has left over 2,000 people dead.

It comes a day after President Poroshenko dissolved parliament and called for early elections on October 26. In a televised statement, he said the vote is necessary in order to "cleanse" parliament.

Mr. Poroshenko said the last parliamentary election in 2012 was neither free nor fair. He said most lawmakers have lost the Ukrainian people's trust, noting there are "quite a few" members of parliament who support pro-Russian separatists in the east.

Also Monday, the Ukrainian military said it halted a column of Russian tanks and armored vehicles that had crossed into southeastern Ukraine. Kyiv says the fighters were disguised as rebels. It said at least two of the tanks have been destroyed.

Moscow has not commented on the alleged intrusion, which is the latest reported attempt by Moscow to intervene in the separatist insurgency.