Infographic on the Ukrainian defense budget and military spending, courtesy of the Ukraine Crisis Center:
With a picture:
EU delays new Russia sections:
Diplomats say European Union envoys have failed to reach a decision on whether to implement new sanctions against Russia over its involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.
The new measures were agreed by EU leaders late on September 5 on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Wales.
The diplomats said that Germany was pushing to have the sanctions implemented, but several other EU countries wanted to hold off on September 10 because a cease-fire in Ukraine was holding.
According to the diplomats, new talks will take place on September 11.
EU diplomats said that countries with close ties to Russia such as Italy, Austria, and Finland are reluctant to implement the new sanctions.
EU diplomats said, however, that the general idea was still for the sanctions to be implemented through publication in the official journal of the European Union on September 12. (Reuters, dpa, and AP)
This ends our live-blogging for September 10. Be sure to check back tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage.
Good morning. We'll start the live blog today with the latest Ukraine update from our news desk:
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he lit a candle in church to honor those wounded fighting government troops in Ukraine.
Speaking outside a Moscow church late last night, Putin used the politically charged term "Novorossia" to refer to southeastern Ukrainian regions at the center of a five-month conflict that has been largely stilled by a cease-fire.
Putin said he had lit a candle for "those who have been injured and those who gave their lives defending people in Novorossia."
Kyiv and NATO say Russia has sent thousands of soldiers to eastern Ukraine, where separatists hold two provincial capitals and rebel gains that preceded the signing of the cease-fire deal on September 5.
Russia denies involvement, despite evidence including funerals of soldiers believed to have died in Ukraine.
Novorossia is a tsarist-era name for a broad strip of land encompassing much of eastern and southern Ukraine.
Putin's use of the term has raised concerns that the Kremlin may have designs on this territory.
(AFP, ITAR-TASS, Interfax)