From Reuters:
Ukraine's top priority is to build an army strong enough to stop Russian military aggression, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said on Friday, as the country's military reported more deaths in a separatist conflict.
Ukraine has accused Russia of sending soldiers and weapons to help pro-Russian rebels in eastern regions launch a new offensive in a conflict that has killed more than 4,000 people.
"Building an army, which is capable of stopping aggression from Russia, is the number one task," Yatseniuk said in a televised briefing with journalists in which he gave his recommendations for top positions in a new coalition government.
Increasing violence, truce violations and reports of unmarked armed convoys travelling from the direction of the Russian border have aroused fears that a shaky Sept. 5 truce could collapse.
A Ukrainian military spokesman said shelling between government forces and rebels had continued in the past 24 hours in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, with one soldier and one five-year-old child being killed in different attacks.
More from AFP on Sweden and the small submarine it says entered its waters:
Sweden said Friday it had evidence that a mini submarine entered its waters in October, in a Cold War-style incident that triggering a week-long hunt fuelled by heated speculation of a Russian incursion.
"The Swedish defence forces can confirm that a mini u-boat violated Swedish territory. This is a serious and unacceptable violation by a foreign power," the Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces Sverker Goeransson told reporters.
He added that it was impossible to confirm the vessel's nationality.
The search, which stirred up memories of Cold War cat-and-mouse games with suspected Soviet submarines along Sweden's long, rugged coastline, involved battleships, minesweepers and helicopters as well as more than 200 troops.
Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Loefven issued a stark warning against any future incursions.
"Those who consider entering Swedish territory illegally should be aware of the enormous risks it will mean for those involved in the violation," he said.
"We will defend our territorial integrity with all available means. The armed forces has the necessary power to prevent a foreign vessel from getting away with it in a critical situation, and to do so with military force."
The October submarine hunt was triggered on October 17 after sightings of a "man-made object". Hundreds of reports from members of the public then flooded in, recording "something" in waters near Stockholm.
Although Sweden has consistently declined to point the finger at Russia, the search added to concerns in the region over a more assertive Kremlin since the start of the conflict in Ukraine and an uptick in Russian airforce activity over the Baltic.
During the search, Russia denied it had a vessel in the area and claimed it might be a Dutch submarine that had been on a joint exercise with the Swedish navy prior to the October 17 sighting. The Netherlands denied that, saying its submarine had left by that date.
There had been much speculation, as you may remember, that the suspected submarine, sighted in late October, belonged to Russia. Moscow denied the claims.
Here is today's situation map of eastern Ukraine by the National Security and Defense Council:
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
A Ukrainian security adviser says there is no point in holding new peace talks with pro-Russian separatists until Kyiv is satisfied that the rebels holding territory in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions are adhering to a truce deal signed on September 5 in Minsk.
Markian Lubkivskiy, an adviser to the chairman of Ukraine's Security Service, said on 1+1 television on November 13 that "there will be no 'Minsk-2', as we have 'Minsk-1' agreements which Ukraine is implementing and the terrorists are not."
A Ukrainian Foreign Ministry representative, Dmytro Kuleba, said in the same televised program that Kyiv will continue talks but only on implementation of existing agreements.
Hundreds of combatants and civilians have been killed since the September 5 cease-fire, with each side blaming the other.
Kyiv says that November 2 elections in the rebel-held regions violated the truce deal, which also incuded other steps toward peace and was signed by Russia.
Russia denies allegations from Kyiv and the West that it has sent troops and weapons into eastern Ukraine, despite sightings of unmarked convoys on rebel-held territory in recent days.
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
Russian President Vladimir Putin says economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the European Union, the United States, and other countries over the Ukraine crisis go against Group of 20 (G20) principles and international law.
Putin told TASS in an interview published on November 14 that the asset freezes, visa bans, and blocks put on Russian companies trying to access Western financial markets could only be imposed by the United Nations.
He acknowledged the sanctions and low oil prices have hurt the Russian economy but said the Kremlin's cash reserves are large enough to handle any economic crisis and meet "social commitments" domestically.
Putin's comments come one day ahead of the G20 summit in Australia, but he said it "makes no sense" to discuss the sanctions at that venue.
The summit follows fresh allegations of Russian military incursions into Ukraine.