Putin discusses the possibility of ceasefire in Ukraine

Moscow: President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko discussed a possible ceasefire. “The issue of possible ceasefire in the area of a military operation in Ukraine’s southeast has been touched upon,” the Kremlin.

Putin expressed concern over the deaths of the two Russian media workers and stressed the importance of ensuring safety of reporters working in Ukraine, the Kremlin said.

Earlier, the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, known by its acronym VGTRK, said one of journalists, Igor Kornelyuk, was killed after being caught up in a mortar attack near the city of Lugansk.

Later the state company confirmed the death of another of its employees, sound technician Anton Voloshin, who had earlier been considered missing.

Kornelyuk and Voloshin became the first Russian media employees to die while covering the Ukraine crisis.

Their deaths brings to five the number of journalists killed in Ukraine since the start of the year, according to Reporters Without Borders. More than 200 have been injured or attacked.