(CNN)Officials from Russia, Ukraine and separatist groups engaged in low-level talks hours before a crucial meeting over the crisis in eastern Ukraine. In the early morning hours Wednesday, the parties gathered in Belarus with one question answered in part: Will separatist leaders whose pro-Russian forces are battling with Ukrainian soldiers for control of eastern Ukraine show up? Video showed Denis Pushilin of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and Vladislav Deinego of the Luhansk People's Republic at the talks speaking with reporters. Monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe also attended the preliminary meeting. If a peace deal is to be reached, leaders involved in the talks still have a long road before a lasting agreement is reached, CNN's Nic Robertson reported from Minsk.
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Separatist leaders gather with Ukrainian and Russian officials before peace talks officially kick off
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President Barack Obama calls Vladimir Putin, urges him to seize opportunity for peace
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Seven civilians have been killed in Kramatorsk shelling, Kiev-backed Donetsk authorities say
Obama said he hasn't decided yet whether to send arms to Ukrainian forces defending their country against @placeholder-backed separatists, and he hasn't set a deadline for when he will.