Here is a wrap-up of today's news from our news desk:
Ukraine's government and pro-Russian separatists have failed to agree on a new round of peace talks, but Ukraine's military says it will prolong a 24-hour cease-fire agreement.
Ukraine's former President Leonid Kuchma -- Kyiv's envoy in talks with Russia, separatists, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) -- said on December 10 a new round of negotiations should not be held in Minsk in the coming days because separatists had violated a previously agreed cease-fire deal.
Kuchma was quoted by Interfax as saying, "In a situation where the second party is unable to ensure the cease-fire regime, I do not consider this meeting expedient."
He also reportedly said the separatists should "show that they really want peace and not war, and that they fully control their armed formations."
Denis Pushilin, the envoy for separatists in Donetsk, told Interfax on December 10 that Kuchma's remarks confirmed Kyiv is not interested in obeying a September 5 Minsk peace accord and cease-fire deal.
That cease-fire deal has been broken on a daily basis, with more than 1,000 people being killed in eastern Ukraine since the accord was agreed upon in the presence of mediators from Russian and the OSCE.
A new round of peace talks, possibly in Minsk, was expected to be arranged by the end of this week following a "day of silence" truce between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists on December 9.
Despite the failure to agree on a new round of peace talks in the days ahead, Ukraine's military announced on December 10 that it would prolong the December 9 truce to give both sides a change to move closer to each other.
In related news, Ukraine's government created a Secretariat for Security Cooperation with NATO and the European Union.
The head of Ukraine's Security Service, Valentyn Nalyvaychenko, introduced the new security body's chief, Yevhen Marchuk, on December 10.
Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said on December 9 that Ukraine would act to abandon the neutral "non-bloc status" introduced in 2010 under then President Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted by pro-Western protesters in February.
Marchuk, a former prime minister and defense minister, said that scrapping that neutrality would give "a new impulse" to Ukraine's cooperation with NATO and the EU.
But he said Ukraine would have to tread a "long and difficult path" before it could join NATO.
Russia, which annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March and supports separatists fighting government forces in eastern Ukraine, vehemently opposes Ukraine joining NATO and wants the alliance to pledge never to accept Ukraine as a member.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities were investigating an explosion early on December 10 at a building in the port city of Odesa where an office collecting assistance for Ukraine's military is based.
The building in central Odesa was empty at the time of the explosion, and authorities said nobody was hurt.
Ukrainian officials said they are treating the explosion as a terrorist attack.
More than 4,300 people have been killed in the conflict in eastern Ukraine since April.
In Washington, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden called upon Ukraine's government to reform the economy and fight corruption -- saying Ukraine cannot afford to lose another chance to change the country for the better.
Biden accused Russian President Putin of using "kleptocracy and oligarchy" as "tools of international coercion."
He said that in such a situation, "fighting corruption is not just about good governance. It's about self-defense. It is about integrity. It is about sovereignty." (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa, and Interfax)
This ends our live-blogging for December 10. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.
Good morning! Ukraine's president has called on Russia to pull out of his country:
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called on Russia to end its support for separatists in the east of his country, including withdrawing any Russian forces on Ukrainian soil.
Poroshenko also urged Russia to close the border between the two countries, saying doing so would lead to "peace and stability in Ukraine" within a matter of weeks.
Moscow denies playing any role in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Poroshenko was speaking on December 11 during a visit to Australia.
Speaking alongside Poroshenko in Melbourne was Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott who expressed his country's "deep solidarity with the free country of Ukraine."
The two were speaking a day after fresh clashes between Ukrainian troops and separatists clouded prospects of a lasting cease-fire emerging from a "Day of Silence" in Ukraine as Kyiv ruled out peace talks until the rebels stop firing completely.
Australia and Ukraine have formed close ties since Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down in July over rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine.
Of the nearly 300 people who died in the air disaster, 38 were Australian citizens or residents.
Kyiv and many in the West blame the separatists for shooting down the plane with a missile supplied by Moscow, something the Kremlin denies.
"If it turns out that people under Russian authority had a hand in this, we absolutely expect them to be surrendered to investigators and to prosecutors because this is an atrocity," Abbott said. "It was mass murder on a vast scale."
Poroshenko and Abbott also discussed a potential energy export deal, with the Ukrainian president saying his country may buy Australian uranium for its nuclear power stations, along with coal.
"Australia is an energy superpower and energy security is very important to Ukraine, particularly given its current vulnerability to supply shocks," Abbott said.