Another item from RFE/RL's news desk:
Ukraine Backs More Sanctions Against Russia In Passport Spat
Ukraine's president has called for new sanctions against Russia over its decision to recognize passports issued by separatist authorities in eastern Ukraine.
The Kremlin said its decision is a "humanitarian" move to help residents of separatist-held areas in eastern Ukraine who are suffering from a blockade by Ukrainian nationalists, and says that doesn't amount to recognizing the breakaway regions.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on February 21 denounced Moscow's recognition of the documents, which he says contradicts the 2015 Minsk peace deal. Speaking at a meeting with an EU aid commissioner, Poroshenko called for "resolute action" that could include "strengthening sanctions."
The United States and the European Union have both placed sanctions on Russia for its annexation of Crimea and its support for pro-Russian insurgents in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian forces have been fighting Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine since April 2014, a conflict that has killed more than 9,750 people.
The 2015 Minsk agreement on resolving the conflict has been widely disregarded by both sides.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov argued February 21 that the decision to recognize passports and other documents issued by separatist authorities in the east was aimed to protect the rights of residents.
Based on reporting by AP and Interfax
The plot thickens?
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.
Good morning. We'll get the live blog rolling today with this item from RFE/RL's Patrice Hill in Washington:
Monitor Says Ukraine Cease-Fire, Weapons Withdrawal Not Being Honored
The head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has said there are still "significant" violations of the cease-fire in Ukraine and "no evidence" that either side is withdrawing heavy weapons from the front line as agreed last week.
"There are still a significant number of violations of the cease-fire, so it's not really quiet...And they have no evidence of the withdrawal of weapons," Lamberto Zannier, the organization's secretary-general, said at a press conference in New York on February 21 after he briefed the United Nations Security Council on the conflict.
"We will have to keep pushing both sides" to secure compliance, he said.
Ukrainian government troops and Russia-backed separatists had appeared to be respecting the new cease-fire attempt earlier in the week, with each side acknowledging that the other was complying.
However, Zannier told the Reuters news agency that the situation remains "confused" and he sees the potential for a restart of another intense phase of combat.
Last week's cease-fire agreement was the latest effort to carry out the 2015 Minsk peace protocol, which has failed repeatedly to bring about peace since it was signed two years ago.
Zannier said that, beyond the problems with getting a cease-fire to hold in Ukraine, "the larger picture remains problematic" in Europe, with a new "Cold War mentality" setting in, but without the mechanisms for dealing with potential crises that existed during the Cold War.
"There's no real reconciliation, no trust. Relationships between Russia and the West remain strongly visceral," he said. "There was dialogue during the Cold War which resulted in a number of things...Now this dialogue doesn't really exist" and has been replaced by accusations being hurled from one side to the other.
"The tools we have are not really working as well as they should to intervene in a crisis situation, to ensure potential crises didn't turn into conflicts," he said.