More from RFE/RL's News Desk on Biden's remarks in Kyiv:
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said in Kyiv that "it is unacceptable for countries to attempt to redraw borders by force in Europe or intervene militarily because they don't like a decision their neighbors have made."
Speaking alongside Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on November 21, he also said if Russia would fulfill commitments it made in Minsk to end the crisis in Ukraine and would respect the country's territorial integrity, "we could begin a rational discussion about sanctions."
But instead, he said, "we have seen blatant disregard of the [Minsk] agreement by Moscow."
"Do what you agreed to do, Mr. Putin," Biden said.
The U.S. vice president also said Washington does not and will not recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea and will insist others also do not recognize it.
Biden, who arrived in Kyiv late on November 20, also urged Ukrainians to form a new government in "days not weeks" following recent elections, which he said were free and fair.
He called on the new government to work toward greater integration with Europe and work for Ukraine's democratic and economic future.
He said so long as Kyiv does that, the United States will be "at your side."
BREAKING:
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden says in Kyiv that "it is unacceptable for countries to attempt to redraw borders by force in Europe or intervene militarily because they don't like a decision their neighbors have made."
Ukrainian President Poroshenko and U.S. Vice President Biden today:
Here's today's situation map from the Ukrainian military.
A few more details, via our newsroom, on the alleged shelling from Russian territory of Luhansk, as we mentioned earlier:
Ukraine's military says its territory was shelled from Russia for the first time since the signing of a cease-fire on September 5.
Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said on November 21, "Over the past day, for the first time since the signing of the Minsk agreement, the shooting of Ukrainian territory restarted from the side of the Russian Federation."
Lysenko said that artillery shells were fired at a border post in eastern Ukraine's Luhansk region from the direction of the village of Manotsky in Russia's Rostov region.
Lysenko said that Russian army units on Ukrainian territory and formations of separatist fighters were reinforcing their positions and that heavier shelling had been seen in the direction of the key government-held port city of Mariupol.
Moscow denies that it is involved in the fighting although it does give the separatists open political backing.
Based on reporting by AFP and Unian