Ukraine says separatists intensifying rocket attacks

Ukrainian military officials said Friday that four soldiers were killed in one day as separatists intensified shelling of government positions ahead of peace talks expected in the coming week.

The press office for military operations in eastern Ukraine said army outposts were targeted 50 times by small arms fire, mortars and rockets over the last day.

Intensification in hostilities comes one month after a renewed truce led to a marked lull in the fighting that broke out in the spring.

An AP reporter heard rockets being fired Thursday evening into the separatist stronghold of Donetsk  an indication that government forces are also likely breaching the cease-fire. Separatist authorities in Donetsk said Friday that a hospital building was struck by artillery fire earlier in the week, but that there were no casualties.

On the ground in the Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions, there have been indications of mounting tensions in recent days.

Ukrainian military press spokesmen have reported an uptick in shelling by separatists and the resumption in the use of Grad and Uragan multiple rocket launchers. At least four villages were hit by Grad rockets Thursday, officials said.

An AP reporter heard outgoing mortars being fired Friday morning from a rebel-controlled area situated around one kilometer (3,300 feet) from an orphanage that was supposed to be receiving a visit from the Donetsk separatist leader, until it was canceled.

Ministers to meet in Berlin to discuss Ukraine crisis
 
The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine will meet in Berlin on Monday to discuss the situation in eastern Ukraine and the implementation of the Minsk protocol, the German foreign ministry said on Friday.
 
The ministers held a telephone conference in the afternoon and agreed to meet in person on Monday to continue their efforts in resolving the crisis, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement.
 
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has invited the leaders of Russia, France and Germany to talks in Kazakhstan's capital Astana on Jan. 15 in an attempt to restore peace.
 
However, Germany and France have cast doubt on whether such a four-way summit can take place without further progress on the Minsk peace plan agreed in September. On Thursday, Chancellor Angela Merkel said all 12 points in the peace plan needed to be fully implemented before the EU could consider easing sanctions against Russia.