KIEV, Aug. 6 - Ukraine on Thursday reported the death of five soldiers while pro-Russian rebels accused government troops of killing a civilian in clashes following failed talks on ending a 16-month conflict in the country's east.

Military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told reporters in Kiev that six servicemen had also been wounded in the past 24 hours of fighting across the eastern Russian-speaking provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk, AFP reported.

The insurgents accused pro-Western government forces of killing a civilian after one of their shells hit a jail and sparked a fire in the rebel-held town of Gorlivka.

The two sides and Russia failed to make any progress during three days of European-mediated negotiations aimed at salvaging a widely-ignored ceasefire deal signed nearly six months ago.

The developments come two days after President Petro Poroshenko convened his generals to discuss the latest failed bid to negotiate an end to clashes with pro-Russian rebels.

Poroshenko sent his personal envoy to the Belarussian capital Minsk on Monday to discuss a new weapons withdrawal agreement with rebel and Moscow negotiators.

But the European-mediated talks fell apart after more than six hours due to what one separatist said was Kiev's refusal to pull back its forces from four strategic sites.

"We need to clearly determine a plan for strengthening our defenses in case of the conflict's escalation," the presidency quoted Poroshenko as telling members of Ukraine's powerful National Security and Defense Council and top ministers.

The Ukrainian government and its Western allies fear that the war may turn into a "frozen conflict" in which low-level violence becomes a constant menace that leaves much of eastern Europe on a permanent state of alert.

The United Nations estimates that the conflict - sparked by the February 2014 ouster in Kiev of a Moscow-backed president - has killed more than 6,800 people and driven at least 1.4 million from their homes.

Russia denies accusations by Ukraine and its allies of orchestrating and supporting the conflict to try prevent the former Soviet state establishing closer ties with the West. (afp/ez)