Unconfirmed reports of fighting outside Luhansk
Barring any major developments that ends our live blogging for today.
From our news desk:
Citing French diplomatic sources, reports say the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany are to meet in Berlin on July 2 to discuss the Ukrainian crisis.
The news comes after the Ukrainian government forces resumed their assault on pro-Russian separatists in the east after a 10-day truce failed to resolve the crisis.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko "took upon himself the responsibility for unleashing battle actions in Ukraine."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Poroshenko's decision not to extend the cease-fire started “a new cycle of bloodshed with consequences unpredictable for the Ukrainian state.”
The Foreign Ministry said Lavrov made the comments during a telephone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
From our news desk:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Poroshenko's decision not to extend the truce started “a new cycle of bloodshed with consequences unpredictable for the Ukrainian state.”
The Foreign Ministry said Lavrov made the comments during a telephone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
It said Kerry gave assurance on Washington's desire to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict but "acknowledged differences in the approaches on how to achieve this."
The EU divisions over the South Stream pipeline continue:
Hungary says it will build its part of Gazprom's South Stream gas pipeline that bypasses Ukraine to supply Europe.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said July 1 in Serbia that "those who say we shouldn't build South Stream should make an alternative proposal about how we could live without energy."
Orban's comments underscore divisions within the EU over the pipeline, due to cross the Black Sea, Serbia, and Hungary to Austria.
The European Commission has called on EU states to resist Kremlin pressure over the project, saying the contracts Gazprom has signed breach the bloc's competition rules.
Bulgaria last month froze its South Stream construction work.
But Austria’s OMV energy company and Gazprom on June 24 signed a contract to build the Austrian section.
Serbia on June 17 reconfirmed its commitment to the project.