Russian President Vladimir Putin and Arseniy Yatseniuk

Arseniy Yatseniuk: When Harper met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk and President Petro Poroshenko in Kyiv on Saturday, he emphasized the expected arrival in August of 200 Canadian military trainers, although they will be based near the Polish border, 1,300 kilometres from the fighting, according to CBC. The war in the east, though, isn't waiting. The prime minister visit coincides with renewed shelling and casualties on both sides as Ukrainian forces try to hold off rebels who are intent on extending their control in the east of the country. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said of Russian President Vladimir Putin that he doesn't think 'there is any way under this leader Russia will ever change.' On Friday, a team from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe based in the eastern city of Donetsk that has been monitoring the fighting heard an unprecedented 500 explosions — a new level of intensity that appears to leave the ceasefire agreements reached in Minsk, Belarus, in February in tatters. "We've never seen anything like this," said Michael Bociurkiw, spokesman for the OSCE team and a Canadian. More than 6,000 people have died and 15,000 have been injured in 15 months of fighting. The number of refugees displaced by the fighting has reached 1.3 million. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.