Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatists were locked in fierce fighting in the east of Ukraine on Thursday after rebels rejected a call to lay down their arms in line with a peace plan proposed by President Petro Poroshenko, government forces said. Heavy fighting broke out at around 4 a.m. near the town of Krasny Liman, which itself has been under government control since early this month. “We issued an ultimatum to the terrorists overnight to surrender their weapons. We guarantee their safety and investigation in line with Ukrainian law … They refused,” said government forces spokesman Vladyslav Seleznyov. “Now we are trying to narrow the encirclement. They are trying to break out,” Seleznyov said. No details of the fighting were immediately available from the rebels side. Poroshenko, installed as a president on June 7, is pushing a peace plan to end the separatist rebellion including an […]