From RFE/RL's News Desk:
European Council President Donald Tusk says the European Union needs a strategy for dealing with Russia that lasts for years, not months.
"The biggest challenge today is the Russian approach, not only to Ukraine but also to the EU," Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, said.
Tusk was speaking at a news conference early on December 19 at the end of a summit of EU leaders in Brussels.
He called for a strategy that is "tough and responsible" for dealing with Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, and resolving the Ukraine crisis.
Tusk said "Russia is our strategic problem, not Ukraine."
Earlier, EU leaders adopted new sanctions as further punishment for Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March.
The new measures ban all investment in Crimea and stop European cruise ships from traveling there.
Read more here.
Barring any huge developments, that concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Thursday, December 18. Check back in this space tomorrow for more continuing live coverage.
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
President Petro Poroshenko on December 18 submitted to parliament a motion to revoke Ukraine's nonaligned status in a move which could enable Kyiv to one day join NATO.
A law passed in 2010, under then-President Viktor Yanukovych, affirmed Ukraine's nonaligned status -- a classification given to neutral states that refuse to join any military alliance and play no active part in wars.
The 2010 measure was passed under strong pressure from Russia, which strongly opposes Ukraine's potential NATO membership.
Poroshenko made joining NATO one of his top foreign policy priorities after coming to power in the wake of the February ouster of Moscow-backed Yanukovych.
He first announced his intention to file the motion during a visit to Warsaw on December 17, when he said, "Ukraine today is in a virtual state of war. Russia annexed Crimea. Illegal armed groups, under the control of our eastern neighbor, are increasing their armed activity in the Donbas."
Just in from RFE/RL's News Desk:
The White House says U.S. President Barack Obama is not currently eyeing new sanctions against Russia under legislation authorizing fresh punitive measures.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on December 18: “At this time, the administration does not intend to impose sanctions under this law, but the act gives the administration the additional authorities that could be utilized if circumstances warranted.”
Obama will sign the bill, which U.S. Congress last week passed, Earnest said.
It authorizes new sanctions against the Russian defense and energy industries and also allows the White House to provide $350 million in defense hardware to Ukraine, including antitank and antiarmor weapons, ammunition, and surveillance drones.
The United States and the EU imposed several rounds of sanctions against Russian officials, companies and businessmen after the Kremlin annexed Crimea in March.