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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

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Some more Ukraine-related developments now, courtesy of RFE/RL's news desk and Washington bureau:

A bill to provide defensive weapons to Ukraine and expand sanctions against Russian defense firms passed the U.S. Senate on December 11.

The Ukraine Freedom Support Act passed the chamber by a voice vote. Senators Robert Menendez (Democrat-New Jersey) and Bob Corker (Republican-Tennessee) sponsored the bill, which passed unanimously out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on September 18.

It remains unclear whether the U.S. House will have time to bring the bill up for a vote, as lawmakers are getting ready to leave for the year.

The bill authorizes $350 million to provide Ukraine with defensive weaponry; grants Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia major non-NATO ally status; and authorizes $50 million in short-term energy assistance to Ukraine.

The Obama administration has thus far declined to give Ukraine defensive lethal aid.

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It seems there may be a bit of controversy surrounding a member of Putin's entourage, who accompanied the Russian president on his trip to India (from RFE/RL's news desk):

A spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department says Washington is "troubled" by reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin's delegation to India may have included the controversial figure who has headed Crimea since the Ukrainian territory was annexed by Russia earlier this year.

Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on December 11 that Washington is cognizant of the fact that New Delhi officials say they were "not officially aware" of a visit by Sergei Aksyonov.

Psaki said U.S. officials are seeking further clarification.

The Reuters news agency reported that Aksyonov met unofficially with a Mumbai businessman to discuss trade in Crimea after traveling on Putin's plane to India.

India does not support Western sanctions against Russia and pro-Russian figures in Crimea and eastern Ukraine -- which target Aksyonov among others.

The reported visit by Aksyonov may be an irritant in relations between New Delhi and Washington ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to India in January.

(Reuters, AP, Interfax, AFP)

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