From our newsroom:
Ukraine Says Russia Vows To Resume Gas Supplies This Week
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Georgian Foreign Minister Tamar Beruchashvili speaking to reporters in Tbilisi today, via Reuters:
Steinmeier: "One cannot be too optimistic, in the last talks that I had in Kyiv and Moscow and more recently in Vienna and Basel with the Russian Foreign Minister [Serge Lavrov] there were perhaps small signs that we could achieve some small easing in the coming days and weeks. Not much more than a slowing-down [of the fighting] but I say, at least that."
Steinmeier: "We could achieve this if we focus consequently on one element of the Minsk Agreement and manage to put it into practice and that is to fix a line of disengagement from which fighters and heavy artillery are obliged to withdraw."
Beruchashvili: "Our German colleagues share our deep astonishment with Russia's recent actions that violate Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as international law. Signing of the so-called strategic partnership and integration agreement between Moscow and Abkhazia's de-facto leadership is Russia's clear intention to continue the occupation and annexation policy and also to prevent Georgia's successful integration into European structures."
From our newsroom:
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has reiterated that his country does not recognize last month's treaty between Russia and Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia.
The treaty, signed on November 24, says that an armed attack on Abkhazia will be considered an armed attack on Russia, and vice-versa.
It calls for the creation of a joint Russian-Abkhaz military force within a year, and for Russian funding to modernize Abkhazia's military.
Steinmeier, speaking in Tbilisi on December 8, said: "We would like to confirm this once again and we do not recognize this agreement at all."
Moscow recognized Abkhazia and another Georgian breakaway territory, South Ossetia, as indepedent states in 2008.
That move came after Russia and Georgia fought a brief war over South Ossetia.
Russia has stationed some 4,000 troops in Abkhazia.
Steinmeier also said on December 8 that Georgia, which signed an association agreement with the European Union in June, is "one step closer" to obtaining visa-free travel in the EU for its citizens.
Based on reporting by Interfax and interpressnews.ge
From AP:
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls says Russia hasn't done enough to have two warships ordered in France delivered.
The delivery was suspended by France after coming under intense pressure from its allies to suspend the sale because of tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Russia is accused of supplying pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine with manpower and weapons.
After meeting Czech counterpart Bohuslav Sobotka, Valls said through an interpreter Monday: "We have interrupted the delivery for diplomatic reasons."
Valls says the issue wasn't likely discussed by President Francois Hollande during Saturday's impromptu meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow but that France's "goal and priority is a long-term political solution" of the Ukraine crisis.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's $16.4 billion "Global Humanitarian Appeal 2015," announced today, includes $189.1 million in funding for Ukraine, where it says there are 900,000 people who need assistance.
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt told the Atlantic Council in Washington today:
"I think it's important not to go down the rabbit hole, not to fall into the trap of trying to meet Russia on their ground in terms of misrepresentation or propaganda. But the best answer to that propaganda is the truth: a consistent presentation of Ukrainian government reality and Ukrainian government intentions, including Ukrainian government intentions regarding Eastern Ukraine and the imperative of national unity."
"The greatest single risk factor facing Ukraine today is business as usual. And the good news is that both the president, President [Petro] Poroshenko, and Prime Minister [Arseniy] Yatsenyuk are fully aware of that imperative."
From our newsroom:
Russian opera singer Anna Netrebko has donated 1 million rubles ($19,000) to a theater in rebel-held eastern Ukraine.
The renowned soprano made her donation on December 8 in St. Petersburg, where she is a star of the Mariinsky Theater.
Russian television showed her giving the check to Oleg Tsarev, a leader of the pro-Russian rebels in Donetsk region, and posing with a separatist flag.
Netrebko said the money is for the Donetsk Opera and Ballet Theater, where she said performers are struggling on with their art despite the freezing cold.
The move came a day after a dozen ballet stars participated in a gala at Moscow's Bolshoi Theater in support of young dancers in Ukraine.
Proceeds from the gala will go toward the Kyiv State Ballet School where organizers say young dancers are trained in poor conditions.
Based on reporting by AFP and dpa
That concludes our live blogging for Monday, December 8. Follow our continued coverage of events in Ukraine and all around our broadcast area HERE.