Good morning. We'll start today's live blog with this update from RFE/RL's news desk:
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian President Vladmir Putin are among leaders gathering today for a summit in Minsk.
The meeting comes amid heightened tension between Kyiv and Moscow over a pro-Russian insurgency in Ukraine’s east.
The summit of the Russian-led Customs Union will also be attended by Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, President Nursultan Nazarbaev of Kazakhstan, and European Union officials.
Maja Kocijancic, a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, told RFE/RL in Brussels that the talks are "an opportunity for discussions on how to create conditions that would be conducive for the political solution for the crisis."
The Kremlin did not rule out Putin and Poroshenko holding direct talks, but would not confirm a bilateral meeting.
The two leaders last met briefly in France in early June at ceremonies to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the meeting offers an opportunity for "an exchange of opinions about the state of the efforts to begin a political process aimed at resolving the crisis in Ukraine."
But Lavrov said EU representatives should not treat the talks as "a fight for Ukraine against Russia."
The EU and United States have imposed sanctions on Russia for its failure to rein in the separatists. Russia has hit back by banning most Western food imports.
On August 25, Poroshenko dissolved Ukraine's parliament and announced snap elections for October 26.
In a televised address, he said many current members of parliament were backers of ousted President Viktor Yanukovych.
He said a new parliament was needed to remove deputies who were blocking reform.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's security service said its troops had captured 10 Russian paratroopers on Ukrainian soil.
It said the soldiers from the 98th Airborne Division were seized near the Ukrainian village of Dzerkalne, about 50 kilometers southeast of the rebel-held city of Donetsk.
It also said the soldiers were being questioned as part of a criminal probe.
Earlier on August 25, Ukraine's Army said Russian forces disguised as separatist fighters had crossed from Russia with 10 tanks and two armored personnel carriers and had been heading toward the southeastern port of Mariupol.
The military said Ukrainian border guards engaged in combat against the column and stopped it outside Novoazovsk on the Azov Sea.
Kyiv has long accused Moscow of supporting the rebels in Ukraine.
Russia denies the allegation and says Ukraine's military campaign against the separatists is causing a humanitarian crisis.
U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice warned of a "significant escalation" in the conflict, saying on Twitter late on August 25: "Repeated Russian incursions into Ukraine unacceptable. Dangerous and inflammatory."
According to the United Nations, more than 2,000 people have been killed and about 340,000 forced to flee their homes in eastern Ukraine as a result of the conflict.
(AFP, Reuters, BBC)
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: On Independence Day, #Ukrainie's flag flies in unexpected places http://t.co/ytXyB5pxYe
— Kyiv Post (@KyivPost) August 26, 2014
Awful, public abuse of a woman in Donetsk, witnessed by @ARothNYT http://t.co/Lo7H75Agjv
— Glenn Kates (@gkates) August 26, 2014
Maybe now that @nytimes has published something like this, there might be more clarity about where the fascism is? http://t.co/DWkOS2ni7w
— CatherineFitzpatrick (@catfitz) August 26, 2014
Kyiv says its troops have captured 10 Russian paratroopers on Ukrainian soil. The Ukraine authorities claim the soldiers from the 98th Airborne Division were seized near the Ukrainian village of Dzerkalne, about 50 kilometers southeast of the rebel-held city of Donetsk. RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service has published videos of interrogations with the purported prisoners here (natural sound, no subtitles).
Weapons convoys seen rolling in eastern Ukraine (from @AP) http://t.co/2EH3E6uxC9
— Tom Parfitt (@parfitt_tom) August 26, 2014
According to The Interpreter, support among Ukrainians for an independent Ukraine is higher than it has ever been:
Vladimir Putin’s Crimean Anschluss which was intended among other things to highlight or promote divisions among Ukrainians about the status of their country has had exactly the opposite effect: It has boosted the share of supporters of independent statehood from 83 percent to 90 percent, the highest ever.
In reporting the poll results, Valery Khmelko, president of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, said that external threats have caused those who did not support the independence of the country to do so because of threats and to recognize the value of Ukraine for themselves.
Read the entire article here
Poroshenko decision to call early parl elections makes sense. Chance to renew democratic legitimacy. Plus #Ukraine has changed a lot.
— Steven Pifer (@steven_pifer) August 25, 2014
RT @AmbassadorRice: Repeated Russian incursions into #Ukraine unacceptable. Dangerous and inflammatory.
— Geoffrey Pyatt (@GeoffPyatt) August 26, 2014
One former foreign secretary's suggested solution to Ukraine crisis: give in to Putin's demands. Pathetic stuff http://t.co/RCHfT3oRvE
— Ian Birrell (@ianbirrell) August 26, 2014