News from overnight:
U.S. President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, pressed the idea as early as summer 2016 that it was Ukraine -- not Russia -- that was responsible for the hacking of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) computer server, newly released documents show.
Good morning!
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.
And here's some Reuters video footage of the disengagement process:
Ukrainian Army Pulls Back In Eastern Village
Members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces could be seen constructing new fortifications on November 2 after the Ukrainian military and Russia-backed separatist forces began a phased troop withdrawal earlier this week further away from the so-called line of control separating the two sides in eastern Ukrainian regions. Kyiv's military and Moscow-backed separatists began their disengagement in Zolote on October 29, part of a series of measures aimed at ending a conflict that has killed more than 13,000 people in the last five years. Some nearby villages are now part of a "no man's land" that are being patrolled by Ukrainian troops.
From our news desk:
Ukraine, Bulgaria Angered By French President's Migration Comments
Ukraine and Bulgaria have filed diplomatic protests with France after President Emmanuel Macron was quoted making a disparaging comment about immigrants from those countries in an interview published on November 1.
Bulgaria said on November 2 that it would summon the French ambassador to Sofia on November 4 to explain Macron's remark.
Meanwhile, Ukraine summoned France's ambassador on November 1. A statement on the website of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said the ambassador explained that Macron's words were taken out of context.
"The French ambassador said that the French side has no complaints against Ukrainian citizens traveling across France," the statement said.
In the interview with the magazine Valeurs Actuelles, Macron explained that he favored "quota-based migration" to an influx of illegal workers. He then added that he preferred legal migrants from Guinea or Ivory Coast to "clandestine networks of Bulgarians and Ukrainians."
"Nobody has the right to insult the Bulgarian and Ukrainian people," Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Krasimir Karakachanov was quoted in Bulgarian media as saying on November 2.
Bulgaria opposes the so-called Macron package, a European Commission reform targeting illegal road-transport practices.
Sofia says the reform discriminates against Bulgarian firms and seeks to eliminate competition in trucking from central and eastern European firms.
Based on reporting by AFP, Interfax-Ukraine, and Politico