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A priest stands in front of a hospital destroyed after shelling between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in the eastern city of Donetsk, Ukraine, on January 19.
A priest stands in front of a hospital destroyed after shelling between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in the eastern city of Donetsk, Ukraine, on January 19.

Live Blog: Ukraine In Crisis (Archive)

Final Summary For January 20

-- A military spokesman says Ukrainian soldiers on January 20 came under attack from Russian regular forces in the north of the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine.

-- Germany's foreign minister says he and his counterparts from Ukraine, Russia, and France will meet on January 21 in Berlin in a bid to de-escalate the conflict in Ukraine.

-- The chief of Russian gas giant Gazprom says Ukraine's discount "winter price" for natural gas will end on April 1. Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller said in a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev that the price for Kyiv would be set in accordance with a long-standing contract, one Kyiv has long sought to change.

-- Russia says a European Union decision to keep sanctions against Russia in place shows the EU is not ready to change an "unfriendly course" toward Moscow. The EU's decision "only confirms the fact that the EU is still not ready to alter its unfriendly course or to give an objective assessment of the Kyiv authorities' actions," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

-- A Georgian man fighting on the Ukrainian side in the conflict in Ukraine has been killed in combat near the Donetsk airport, according to relatives. Media reports in Georgia quote members of Tamaz Sukhiashvili's family as saying he was killed in a battle near the bitterly contested airport on January 17.

-- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has expressed deep concern over what it says is the "escalation" of violence between government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine over the past two weeks. In a statement, the ICRC said the fighting in and around the city of Donetsk was killing civilians and "preventing" its team from carrying out its humanitarian work.

-- An explosion near a courthouse in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv has wounded 14 people, four of them seriously.

-- Russia says Kyiv is trying to solve the crisis in eastern Ukraine through military force and that could lead to "irreversible consequences for Ukrainian statehood." Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin spoke to Interfax news agency as Kyiv and Moscow accused each other of ignoring appeals for a cease-fire to be respected.

*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Kyiv

19:29 15.1.2015

17:59 15.1.2015

Here's an item from our news desk about events at Donetsk airport:

Pro-Russian separatists say they have captured the airport terminal in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk amid heavy fighting with the Ukrainian military.

The rebels announced on January 15 that they had taken control of the terminal's ruins, and an AP reporter saw a separatist flag raised above the building on the same day amid continuing hostilities.

The Ukrainian military, meanwhile, said it was maintaining its positions at the airport.

Although separatists control most of the city of Donetsk, Ukrainian government forces have held on to positions at the airport for months.

Many buildings in and around the sprawling facility have been destroyed by fighting there.

The U.S. State Department said on January 14 that the intense fighting around the airport was among the "latest egregious violations of the commitments made by the Russian-backed separatists."

(AP, RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)

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Here's an update from RFE/RL's Brussels correspondent, Rikard Jozwiak:

BRUSSELS - The office of the European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has outlined possible steps to "induce a policy change from Russia" over the conflict in Ukraine -- including possible engagement with the Eurasian Economic Union.

A document on the proposals, seen by RFE/RL, is to be discussed by EU foreign ministers on January 19.

In addition to an internal study on how to engage with the Eurasian Economic Union, suggestions also include more foreign policy cooperation on Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Libya.

The suggestions also include resuming negotiations on a visa deal with Moscow, a new political agreement between the EU and Russia, and ending the suspension of student exchanges.

The document says the proposals "would not mean business as usual" and would be closely linked to full implementation of a September cease-fire deal aimed at ending the conflict between government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

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