The UN Security Council has been discussing the situation in Ukraine. Our news desk has filed this report:
U.S. Ambassador To UN Condemns Russia's Actions In Ukraine
The new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, has expressed "strong condemnation of Russia's actions" in Ukraine, where an upsurge of fighting between government troops and Russia-backed separatists was in its fifth day.
In her first comments on Ukraine before the Security Council since taking up her post, Haley described the situation on February 2 as "dire."
Meanwhile, U.S. Senator John McCain said Russia is testing President Donald Trump by escalating the violence in Ukraine, just as Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Kyiv of fomenting the latest fighting in an effort to gain support from the new U.S. administration.
McCain, a senior Republican senator from Arizona and a regular Trump critic, sent a letter to the president in which he urged the him to provide lethal aid to Kyiv.
"That this surge of attacks began the day after [Putin] talked with you by phone is a clear indication that Vladimir Putin is moving quickly to test you as commander in chief. America's response will have lasting consequences," McCain said in the letter released by his office.
Putin Blames Ukraine
Putin, meanwhile, blamed the escalation of fighting on the Ukrainian side.
"The Ukrainian leadership needs money, and the best way to get the EU, the U.S., and international organizations to pay is by posing as a victim of aggression," Putin said in Budapest after a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko issued a statement urging the international community to "more actively put pressure on Russia in order to end the shelling."
Ukraine has expressed concerns that Trump could roll back some sanctions imposed on Russia after its 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region and in retaliation for Moscow's military, economic, and political support for separatist militants in eastern Ukraine.
Trump has repeatedly expressed hope for improved relations with Moscow.
'Brink Of Humanitarian Catastrophe'
In Brussels, EU President Donald Tusk urged Russia to use its influence to "disengage the Russia-backed separatists" and to restore a cease-fire.
The Ukrainian military reported two soldiers killed overnight and 10 wounded in shelling in the government-held town of Avdiyivka, just north of the separatist stronghold of Donetsk. The separatists said one of their fighters was killed.
"Moscow was putting Avdiyivka on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe," Poroshenko's statement said.
At least 15 people have been reported killed in the Avdiyivka area over the last five days.
More than 9,750 people have been killed since the conflict in eastern Ukraine erupted in April 2014.
With reporting by AP, TASS, and Reuters
We are now closing the live blog for today, but we'll be back again tomorrow morning to follow all the latest developments. Until then, you can keep up with all our other Ukraine coverage here.
From our correspondent in eastern Ukraine...