Ukraine truce breaks ahead of EU talks in Kiev

Anti-government protesters are again clashing with police in Kiev, despite a truce agreed between the Ukrainian president and opposition leaders.

Demonstrators are throwing petrol bombs and fireworks, while police are using water cannon.

The latest violence comes as three European Union ministers hold talks with the government before an EU meeting to discuss possible sanctions.

The health ministry says the death toll in protests this week has risen to 28.

Despite the truce agreed on Wednesday night between President Viktor Yanukovych and opposition leaders, fires continued burning around the main protest camp, the Maidan, overnight.

Announcing the truce on late on Wednesday, the presidential statement said it was agreed to "start negotiations aimed at stopping the bloodshed, stabilising the situation in the country and achieving social peace".

It did not give details of what the truce would entail or how it would be implemented.

The opposition leaders present at the talks were Arseniy Yatsenyuk and also boxer-turned-politician Vitali Klitschko and far-right party leader Oleh Tyahnybok.

Mr Yatsenyuk confirmed the deal had been reached, saying in a statement on his Fatherland party website that "the main thing is to protect human life".

The media wing of Vitali Klitschko's Udar party said the next round of negotiations with President Yanukovych would resume later on Thursday.

The news came after the most intense violence in Ukraine's three-month crisis turned Kiev into a battle zone between anti-government protesters and riot police.

The protests first erupted when President Yanukovych rejected a landmark association and trade deal with the EU in favour of closer ties with Russia.

Since then, the protests spread across Ukraine, with the main demand of snap presidential and parliamentary elections.