[Costello:] Europe's bloodiest war in decades continues to spiral out of control on the eve of a potential crunch meeting between world leaders who are hoping to broker peace in eastern Ukraine. But despite all the efforts to date, the deadly battle rages on. Look at the video capturing a rocket attack on a soup kitchen. You can hear the glass shattering and tears and the sheer terror of what it's like to live in a war zone. CNN's senior international correspondents join me now with more on this and on Russia's reaction to talks with Germany and France and kind of the United States. Frederik Pleitgen is live in Kiev. Matthew Chance, live in Moscow. I'll start with you, Frederik. What's the latest from the ground in Ukraine?
[Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Certainly, you're absolutely right, Carol, that the battle here certainly goes on unabated. One of the big incidents that happened today is that a major headquarters of the Ukrainian military was shelled. So far, the casualty numbers that we have is that 7 people were killed, 16 apparently were wounded. We have heard from the Ukrainian military and from Ukrainian security officials that apparently one military officer is also among those killed and 10 military personnel could be among those who were wounded. They say that the rockets that hit this area hit both civilian area, as well as this main military base, and certainly did cause a lot of carnage. For the Ukrainians, for their part, it appears as though they also have offensive operations going on down in the southeast of the country, near Mariupol, where they're trying to win back land. So it appears as though, Carol, as these peace talks or these cease-fire talks inch closer that both sides are still trying to create facts on the battlefield. Because of course, one of the things, for instance, the government here in Kiev is hoping for is for a cease-fire to take place very, very soon and to freeze the conflict in its current state. Of course, there are still many, many questions that remain there. How much territory would the separatists de facto be able to keep? Would all heavy weapons have to leave the area? Will there be a demilitarized zone? So there are still many, many questions. But certainly, the weapons speaking today, once again, on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, Carol.
[Costello:] And of course, the question many lawmakers are asking here in the United States is will President Obama agree to arm the Ukrainian military? There's a complication to that, right, Frederik? Because apparently there are Russian spies within the Ukrainian military?
[Pleitgen:] Well, that certainly could be one of the complications, Carol, is what kind of military are you actually giving these weapons to? The Ukrainians, for their part, certainly are saying they need these weapons. They feel that they're not only out gunned on the battlefield, but that the pro-Russian separatists have better technology. However, they also acknowledge that they have a big problem with infiltration of their military by what they call "pro- Russian spies." They say this goes as high as their own general command, that there's people there who have given information to Russia. They say it includes everything from troop movement to the kind of military hardware that is on the front lines there in eastern Ukraine all the way to detailed battle positions. For instance, checkpoints that have been given to the pro Russian separatists, as well as to Russia itself, carol.
[Costello:] Let's talk about Russia and let's go to Matthew Chance. So, there's a rumor going around that Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, will give an ultimatum to Vladimir Putin and that has not made him happy. In fact, the Kremlin spoke out on Russian radio saying, oh, no, you don't give Mr. Putin ultimatums. Can you expand on that for us, Matthew?
[Matthew Chance, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Yeah, I mean, the report was that Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, basically said to Vladimir Putin during negotiations in Moscow last week, you know, look, unless we find a compromise and a deal at the negotiations that we're going to attend in Belarus on Wednesday, I'm not going to be able to hold the United States back from supplying weapons to the Ukrainian government, and I'm not going to be able to prevent more stinging sanctions being implemented both by the U.S. and the European Union. What we had from the Kremlin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, is word that, you know, a denial, essentially, that any such language was used. Playing down this idea that this kind of discussion was an ultimatum. He said something along the lines of, and I'm paraphrasing him here, you know, you don't speak to the president of Russia in that tone. Nobody does. And so it was also a kind of veiled threat or a warning as to what tone the negotiations on Wednesday in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, should take if these leaders of France and Germany and Ukraine, as well, that are going to be attending along with Vladimir Putin, want him to respond positively, Carol.
[Costello:] All right. Frederik Pleitgen and Matthew Chance, thanks to both of you. I appreciate it. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a young family missing for years found murdered in the desert. What their accused killer is saying next.