That concludes the live blogging for today.
World Cup diplomacy? Probably not.
Brazil’s government says Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko has accepted an invitation to attend the July 13 World Cup final in Rio de Janeiro – a game that Russian President Vladimir Putin also is scheduled to attend.
A spokesman for Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff says Poroshenko confirmed the invitation on July 11.
Another Brazilian official said the Ukrainian and Russian leaders would attend a lunch offered by Rousseff.
Putin and Poroshenko met briefly on the sidelines of D-Day anniversary celebration in Normandy, France on June 6.
Russian military forces began to take over Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in late February, and the region was annexed by Russia after a controversial local referendum there in March.
Kyiv says Russia also has been supporting pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, where government forces have been fighting against rebels for more than three months.
Big story from the Kyiv Post: Documents show Russian separatist commander signed off on executions of three men in Sloviansk
More deaths in eastern Ukraine:
Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council says five servicemen were killed and 30 others injured in clashes with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine over the past 24 hours.
Council spokesman Andiy Lysenko on July 12 said that government checkpoints came under fire 17 times overnight.
The latest casualties came one day after Ukraine said 23 of its soldiers were killed, most of them when separatists attacked government forces in eastern Luhansk region with Grad multiple rocket-launchers.
Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has vowed to "find and destroy" the separatists responsible for that attack, which also injured nearly 100.
Ukrainian government troops have been fighting for more than three months against separatists in eastern Ukraine, and in the last two weeks, they have cut the territory held by the rebels in half.
Now Canada is expanding its sanctions over Ukraine:
Canada has added 14 individuals to a list of people facing economic sanctions and travel bans over the Ukraine crisis.
Those targeted include leaders of the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, including Russian citizens.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper in a statement said "Russia's illegal occupation of the Crimean peninsula and the provocative military activity remains a serious concern to Canada and the international comminuty."
Harper also said Canada supports Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's peace plan "and we will continue to apply pressure against Russia with our allies and partners. "
Canada's latest sanctions came as the EU on July 12 named 11 top Ukrainian separatists it has added to its list of individuals facing asset freezes and travel bans over the Ukraine crisis.
Some more details from our Ukrainian Service on the new EU sanctions:
Also included are the vice prime minister, Vasyl Nikitin, the chairman of the so-called Supreme Council, Aleksey Karyakin, the internal affairs minister, Yurij Ivakin, and the defense minister, Igor Plotnitsky.
The list also includes Nikolay Kozitsyn, commander of Cossack forces, and Oleksiy Mozgovy, responsible for military training of the separatists fighting against Ukrainian government forces.
The EU has now issued sanctions against a total of 72 individuals and two entities for threatening Ukraine's territorial integrity.
The EU Official Journal said the sanctions, agreed by EU ambassadors earlier this week, go into on July 12.
Russia has denounced the EU sanctions.
Moscow's envoy to the EU in Brussels, Vladimir Chizhov, said the blacklisting of the separatist leaders would not help efforts to find a political solution to the crisis.
And from our news desk, re the new EU sanctions.
The European Union has added 11 so-called officials of the self-declared separatist republics in eastern Ukraine to its list of individuals subject to travel bans and asset freezes over the Ukraine crisis.
The EU agreed the sanctions earlier this week, but the names were made public on July 12.
The new names include Aleksandr Borodai, the so-called prime minister of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic.
The other Donetsk separatists hit with sanctions on July 12 include a so-called deputy prime minister and two ministers of the self-declared republic.
Luhansk separatists were also included in the list, including the so-called prime minister of their self-declared republic.
The EU has now issued sanctions against a total of 72 individuals and two entities for threatening Ukraine's territorial integrity.