European foreign ministers are meeting to discuss the crisis in Ukraine, where the authorities have launched a crackdown on pro-Russian separatists.
Austria hopes backing will be given to this month's presidential election at the Council of Europe summit in Vienna.
The meeting comes days after Ukrainian security forces began an "anti-terrorism operation" in the east.
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said four soldiers and an estimated 30 separatists were killed near Sloviansk.
He said that up to 800 well-trained militants armed with large-calibre weapons and mortars were hiding among civilians in the town, where government buildings have been seized and checkpoints set up.
A Russia Today reporter in Sloviansk said residents were stockpiling food and there were barricades on almost every road
Fierce fighting in Sloviansk on Monday was followed by sporadic sniper fire, as Fergal Keane reports
Kiev accuses Moscow of supporting and arming the separatists - a claim denied by the Kremlin.
Meanwhile, many flights in and out of Donetsk were suspended early on Tuesday. Aviation authorities gave no reason for the move.
New checkpoints were earlier set up around Kiev. The interior ministry said it wanted to prevent the movement of weapons and explosives.
The authorities also attempted to re-establish control over Odessa, with Interim President Olexander Turchynov dismissing the acting head of the regional administration, Volodymyr Nemyrovskyy.
Forty-six people died in the Black Sea city on Friday in a fire at an official building and fighting between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian protesters.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he feared that neither Kiev nor Moscow could now control the forces unleashed in the east, and that the situation had "taken on a dynamic of its own".
"The bloody pictures from Odessa have shown us that we are just a few steps away from a military confrontation," he warned.
'Risk of civil war'
Austria, which currently chairs the committee of ministers of the Council of Europe, said it expected the 30 ministers attending Tuesday's meeting to discuss ways to defuse the situation in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine's acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, met briefly on the sidelines on Monday. The Austrian foreign ministry said they "spoke briefly, but not by themselves".
The situation remained tense in Sloviansk on Tuesday, with pro-Russian gunmen reinforcing checkpoints
Ukraine's State Aviation Administration gave no reason for the closure of Donetsk airport
In the south-western port city of Odessa, people mourned a pro-Ukrainian activist killed on Friday
"You cannot expect miracles from the conference because there won't be any, but hopefully, and this is my expectation, there will be clear backing from most countries for orderly and free [presidential] election on 25 May, because this could be a small step towards stabilising the country," Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz told Reuters news agency.
The election was called after pro-Kremlin President Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown by pro-Western protesters in February.
Moscow has dismissed plans to hold the presidential poll as "absurd".
However French President Francois Hollande has warned that there will be "chaos and the risk of civil war" if the election does not take place.
He told French radio on Tuesday that it was in Russia's interests to allow it "because it does not want to be seen as a country that wants to prevent another country - in this case Ukraine - from voting".
"Pressure must be put on it by all of Europe and by the United States through sanctions," Mr Hollande added.
The EU and US imposed sanctions on individuals and companies linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin's "inner circle", as well as separatist leaders in Ukraine, when the Crimean peninsula was annexed in March by Russia.
Kiev has rejected the pro-Russian activists' demands for greater autonomy for eastern regions, fearing they could lead to the break-up of the country or more regions being annexed.
Separatists in Donetsk have proclaimed a "People's Republic" and are preparing to hold an independence referendum on Sunday.
The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Donetsk says the referendum and Friday's Victory Day celebrations are potential flashpoints.
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