EC President Van Rompuy to visit Kiev

Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council announced on Thursday that he will travel to Kiev on May 12 on the invitation of Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. "This afternoon I had a phone conversation with Prime Minister Yatsenyuk on the situation in Ukraine," said Van Rompuy in his statement, "I will travel to Kiev on Monday to continue our talks on how to stabilise the situation in Ukraine ahead of the presidential elections on the 25th of May, how to put an end to violence in Ukraine and how to create an inclusive national dialogue." Tensions in eastern Ukraine have been escalating since mid- April following an armed confrontation between Ukrainian security forces and pro-Russia activists. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said in Moscow that Russia had withdrawn its troops from the Ukrainian border.