Dmitry Medvedev has just been answering questions live on TV. Not surprisingly, Russia's economic woes figured prominently in his comments (from RFE/RL's news desk):
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has called on Russians "not to panic" and to keep their savings in rubles despite the Russian currency's sharp decline.
In an annual interview televised live on December 10, Medvedev said Western sanctions against Russia over its conduct in Ukraine had contributed to the fall of the ruble, which has fallen about 40 percent against the dollar this year and has plumbed new lows frequently in recent weeks.
Medvedev reiterated Russian warnings that the sanctions are also harmful to European nations, saying European countries had lost up to $40 billion as a result.
He said that "according to Russian experts' calculations, Europe will lose another $50 billion next year."
Russian retaliation to the sanctions has included a ban on most food imports from nations that have hit it with sanctions.
Medvedev said many Russians who had bet against the ruble in the past had often lost money in the long run.
He also promised that the government will index pensions and state salaries to compensate for the weaker ruble.
Here's a cease-fire update from our news desk:
A cease-fire between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine is largely holding on its second day.
Scattered violations of the truce, which began on December 9 as a "Day of Silence," were reported but both sides said fighting in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions was greatly reduced.
A Ukrainian tank commander near the Donetsk airport told the AFP news agency the situation had been "calm" for the previous 24 hours.
The Ukrainian military reported 11 violations of the truce, while a separatist official said Ukraine had made seven violations.
Ukrainian officials hoped a continued cease-fire could lead to a pulling back of heavy weapons from the conflict zone.
Separatists said a teleconference would be held on December 10 with Ukrainian officials to set a date for a new round of peace talks meant to build on an agreement reached in Minsk on September 5 that failed to stop the conflict, which has killed more than 4,300 people since April.
Ukraine has hoped the talks would be held on December 9 but separatists named December 12 as a possible date for the talks, which would include Russian and representatives from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
(AFP, Interfax, TASS, dpa)
Our resident Kremlin-watcher, Brian Whitmore, has been raving about this lecture last month by historian Timothy Snyder on "Ukraine: From Propaganda To Reality." It's nearly an hour long, but well worth watching if you have the time: