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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

20:17 16.12.2014

This ends our live-blogging for December 16. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.

07:46 17.12.2014

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From RFE/RL's News Desk:

Vladimir Putin's spokesman says the Russian president does not plan to make any "special statements" about the steep fall of the ruble or the state of Russia's economy.

Russian media cite Dmitry Peskov as saying on December 16 that Putin is in constant contact with his government about the situation but does not plan any emergency meetings or statements.

Peskov said Putin is not likely to address the issue publicly before his annual press conference on December 18.

The ruble continued its decline on December 16 despite the central bank's bid to shore it up with a massive interest rate hike, and was trading at about 71 per dollar and 89 per euro early on December 17.

The ruble has fallen nearly 20 percent this week.

Its value against the U.S. dollar has halved since the start of the year, largely due to a slump in oil proces and Western sanctions against Russia over its interference in Ukraine.

08:10 17.12.2014

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09:55 17.12.2014

EU To Tighten Sanctions On Crimea In Time For Leaders Summit -- Officials

BRUSSELS, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The European Union has agreed to widen its ban on investment in Crimea to target Russian Black Sea oil and gas exploration and will adopt the measures by the EU leaders summit later this week, three EU officials said on Wednesday.

As reported exclusively by Reuters on Dec. 10, the sanctions will also ban EU citizens from buying or financing companies in Crimea, a region of Ukraine which Russia annexed in March, prompting the worst East-West stand-off since the Cold War.

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