From our newsroom:
Russia says Kyiv's forces have fired across the border from eastern Ukraine into Russian territory with assault rifles and grenade launchers.
The Foreign Ministry says in a statement today that "we officially demand Kiev stop firing at the sovereign territory of the Russian Federation."
It adds that Russia's Gukovo border post came under rocket and machine-gun fire on July 29.
Kyiv has previously denied similar charges from Moscow.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says after meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Klimkin: "We are in the process of preparing additional sanctions, with Europe."
He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin "still has a choice going forward with respect to his ability to be able to have an impact with the separatists."
Reminder. The Kerry-Klimkin presser via State Department website:
Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans says EU sanctions on Russian capital markets will have an "immediate effect." -- Reuters
Well-known Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer tells our Ukrainian Service that arms embargos of Russia by the West and Ukraine would seriously impact Moscow's military (in Ukrainian):
Some MH17-related news from Montreal via RFE/RL's news desk:
World civil aviation officials and industry representatives are holding a special meeting to discuss airspace safety in conflict zones after the downing of a Malaysian airliner in Ukraine earlier this month.
The UN agency overseeing civil aviation -- the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), is hosting the meeting in Montreal today.
Aviation sources say the meeting is likely to hear calls for ICAO to be granted wider international powers to intervene when a country fails to monitor threats to its airspace.
The ICAO currently has a limited role and cannot tell airlines where to fly, or tell its members whether to close or open their airspace.
Notices advising of danger in specific places and at specific airports are issued both by aviation authorities from the home country of the airline and the countries they are flying over.
(Reuters, icao.int)