Here is today's situation map of eastern Ukraine by the National Security and Defense Council:
Ukraine Separatists Seek Talks, German Mediator En Route To Kiev
Berlin (dpa) -- Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier flew Friday to Kiev for talks aimed at re-starting negotiations to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, his aides said.
Steinmeier, who has been a principal mediator, is slated to meet with Ukraine's President Petro Poroschenko and Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk.
In Moscow, officials said Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had already phoned Steinmeier and urged for a meeting of the trilateral Contact Group consisting of Russia, Ukraine and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Earlier this week, Poroshenko agreed in a conference call with
Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande to hold fresh peace talks with the separatists.
In Donetsk, separatist leader Denis Pushilin said he would be willing to meet on Monday or Tuesday with the Contact Group, adding his demands for a September-brokered ceasefire to hold, an exchange of prisoners, withdrawals of artillery and an end to Kiev's blockade of the Donbass region.
He also called for a special status to be accorded to the region. On Friday, he added, a web conference would take place with Kiev to settle the date and agenda.
A fresh ceasefire in the region has been holding since last week.
Late Thursday, EU leaders vowed to keep in place sanctions against Russia, which they accuse of supplying the separatists.
Five More Ukrainian Soldiers Killed Despite Truce -- Kiev military
KIEV, Dec 19 (Reuters) -- Kiev's military said on Friday five Ukrainian soldiers had been killed and seven wounded in attacks by pro-Russian separatists in the past 24 hours, a larger than normal death toll compared with recent weeks.
A September ceasefire has been repeatedly flouted by both sides, but shelling lessened significantly in December, fuelling hopes of de-escalation of the conflict which has killed over 4,700 people since April.
"For now there's only firing from firearms, they are not using tanks or artillery. We cannot say that the situation has escalated," military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said in a televised briefing.
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
Russia says a U.S. law authorizing further sanctions over Moscow's interference in Ukraine threatens to do lasting damage to U.S.-Russian relations.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivered the message in a telephone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on December 18.
A Foreign Ministry statement says Lavrov told Kerry the Ukraine Freedom Support Act "is capable of undermining the potential for normal interaction between our countries for a long time."
President Barack Obama signed the bill into law on December 18, but said he would not impose the sanctions it authorizes "at this time."
The bill authorizes the administration to provide lethal defensive aid to Ukraine, which is fighting pro-Russian separatist NATO says have direct military support from Moscow, and to impose additional sanctions against the Russian defense and energy sectors.
Kerry said this week that the United States could lift existing sanctions against Russia swiftly if it altered its behavior toward Ukraine.