Ukraine suspends all cargo traffic with separatist-held territory

Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov arrives for a meeting with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite in Kiev, Ukraine, December 12, 2016. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian authorities on Wednesday halted all cargo traffic with separatist-held territory in the east of the country and demanded that pro-Russian rebels hand back businesses they have seized.

President Petro Poroshenko called an emergency meeting of the Security and Defence Council to ask it to implement the ban.