We are now closing the live blog for today. Until we resume again tomorrow morning, you can keep up with all our ongoing Ukraine coverage here.
Good morning. We'll start the live blog today with this update from our news desk:
The leaders of France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine are meeting in Paris today to try to consolidate a fragile peace in Ukraine.
But the meeting could be overshadowed by a refugee crisis spurred by the war in Syria and Russia's dramatic military intervention there this week to support President Bashar al-Assad.
The so-called quartet of leaders hopes to iron out kinks in the peace process in Ukraine, where fighting has all but stopped.
The main points of contention are the holding of local elections in separatist-controlled parts of eastern Ukraine this month, ensuring access for international observers to rebel-held zones, and the removal of heavy weapons from the front line.
Ukraine and the rebels this week agreed to withdraw smaller weapons from the buffer zone between their forces.
"We are far from a resolution, but there are elements that boost our confidence that the crisis can be overcome, and the most important point is that there is currently no shooting," Russian President Vladimir Putin said ahead of the meeting on October 1.