Good morning. We'll start the Ukraine live blog today with this item from RFE/RL's news desk:
U.S. President Barack Obama and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko have discussed ways to better control the uneasy border between Russia and eastern Ukraine.
Obama and Poroshenko spoke by phone on October 15.
The White House says they discussed how all sides must live up to a cease-fire deal signed last month in Minsk.
The deal has helped reduce hostilities, but failed to completely halt fighting.
The White House says Obama and Poroshenko also discussed energy security, political reform, and Ukraine's effort to bolster its economy.
Obama praised the Ukrainian parliament's passage of legislation to fight corruption.
The call comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to hold talks with Western leaders about Ukraine.
Putin will take part in a two-day Europe-Asia summit starting on October 16 in Milan.
The gathering offers him the first chance to discuss the Ukrainian crisis with EU leaders since his visit to France in June to attend D-Day anniversary commemorations.
The United States and Europe have sanctioned Moscow over its actions in Ukraine.
The West accuses Russia of sending troops and arms to the pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, a charge the Kremlin denies.
In an interview with the Serbian daily "Politika," released by the Kremlin on October 15, Putin dismissed Western sanctions as an "absurd and illusory" attempt to isolate Russia.
"It is obviously impossible to achieve it, but the economic health of Europe and the world can be seriously undermined," said Putin, who will make a stopover in Serbia on October 16 before travelling on to Milan.
Putin harshly criticized Obama for mentioning Russia as a major threat to humanity alongside the Ebola virus and the Islamic State group.
"We hope that our partners will realize the futility of attempts to blackmail Russia and remember what consequences discord between major nuclear powers could bring for strategic stability," he said.
Presidential foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said that Putin will meet on October 16 with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and attend a dinner involving other leaders.
Merkel said she expects to discuss the fulfillment of the cease-fire.
"I expect an open exchange of views and progress in implementing the Minsk agreement. ... We will talk about how we can transform the Minsk agreement into reality," Merkel told reporters in Berlin.
Late last month, Merkel said the EU still wasn't considering removing the sanctions because of ongoing fighting.
(AP, TASS)
This ends our live-blogging for October 15. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.
NATO commander doesn't see much Russian withdrawal from Ukraine border:
NATO's top military commander says the alliance has not seen "major movement" so far of Russian troops from a region bordering eastern Ukraine.
On October 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered about 17,600 Russian troops to return to their bases after what Moscow described as training drills in the southern Rostov region.
U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove, the supreme allied commander Europe, told AP news agency on October 15, "Now we will watch to see if there is delivery on the promise."
NATO has refuted previous Russian claims of troop withdrawals from the regions bordering eastern Ukraine, where separatists have been battling government troops since April.
Moscow has consistently denied Ukrainian and Western allegations that it has deployed Russian troops and heavy military equipment in eastern Ukraine to support pro-Russian separatists there. (AP and Reuters)
The SSU Counterintelligence Office jointly with border guards detained citizen of Ukraine “M”, native of Luhansk, YOB 1990, who was trying to flee to the temporary occupied Crimea to receive the next task from representatives of the RF special services.
It was established that Mr. “M” was recruited by Russian FSB back in March of the current year while he was staying in the peninsula. Having returned to Ukraine the offender spread through the social media anti-Ukrainian materials and misleading information to discredit Ukrainian authorities by order of his FSB supervisor. Aside from that, he has set up an internet community to promote the creation of the so called Novorossiia and appeal to support the terrorist activity in the east of Ukraine.
The offender was detained at the checkpoint in a bus, which was heading from Luhansk to Yalta. According to him, he was traveling there to meet with his supervisor to get new missions aimed to destabilize situation in Ukraine.
The investigation under Part 1 Article 11 (treason) is under way.