US Secretary of State John Kerry shakes hands with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during their meeting in Geneva on Monday.

AFP/Geneva

US Secretary of State John Kerry held tense talks with his Russian counterpart in Geneva on Monday to end fighting in Ukraine, where the UN says more than 6,000 have died in less than a year.

The meeting with Sergei Lavrov in an upscale Geneva hotel came less than a week after Kerry accused Moscow of lying to his face about its involvement in the conflict, which has triggered the worst post-Cold War crisis between the US and its allies, and Russia.

Both were due to brief media on the substance of the meeting later in the day.

High-stakes talks between Kiev and Moscow were also set to get under way in Brussels to resolve a bitter gas dispute which threatens deliveries to Europe, after Russia began direct supplies to parts of separatist-held eastern Ukraine.

As relative quiet held on Ukraine's frontlines, raising hopes that Kiev and pro-Kremlin rebels holding parts of the east were moving towards implementing a shaky ceasefire, the UN published a report that painted a bleak picture of developments in the country.

"More than 6,000 lives have now been lost in less than a year due to the fighting in eastern Ukraine," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said in a statement released with the report - the ninth on the issue.

'Crime against humanity'?  

The report details how the conflict is affecting civilians, pointing to arbitrary detention, torture and enforced disappearances committed mainly by armed groups but also in some cases by Ukrainian law enforcement agencies.

The swelling violence and dire living conditions have forced more and more people to flee, and by mid-February, at least one million people had been registered as internally displaced inside Ukraine.

"Many have been trapped in conflict zones, forced to shelter in basements, with hardly any drinking water, food, heating, electricity or basic medical supplies," Zeid said.

Speaking in Geneva for the launch of the report, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic said "the deliberate targeting of civilian areas may constitute a war crime and if widespread and systematic, a crime against humanity."

Shaky ceasefire

The dire comments coincided with the meeting between Kerry and Lavrov in Geneva, which lasted some 80 minutes and was expected to have focused on efforts to implement the shaky ceasefire that began on February 15.

Ukraine security spokesman Andriy Lysenko said rebels shot at Kiev's positions late on Saturday, injuring eight soldiers.

Ukrainian photographer Sergiy Nikolayev was also killed by mortar fire.

But in a more encouraging sign, Kiev security officials said Sunday no Ukrainian soldiers had been killed over the past 24 hours.

Both sides have also begun to pull back some heavy weaponry from the frontline, with rebels claiming on Sunday that they would complete the pullback by the end of the weekend.

Meanwhile, not far away in Brussels, three-way gas talks were also set to take place between the energy ministers of Ukraine and Russia, together with European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic.  

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