This ends our live-blogging for December 3. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage of the crisis in Ukraine.
Good morning. We'll get our live blog rolling today with this item from RFE/RL's news desk:
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are scheduled to meet on December 4 for talks expected to focus on the crisis in Ukraine.
The two will meet on the sidelines of a gathering in Basel, Switzerland, of top diplomats from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The OSCE has been tasked with monitoring a September 5 cease-fire in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russia separatists.
That truce, however, has been violated regularly especially in and around the international airport in the rebel-held city of Donetsk.
A fresh cease-fire for the airport alone came into force on December 2, a day after it was negotiated by Ukrainian and Russian military officials.
However, the Ukrainian military accused rebel forces of breaking that truce almost immediately.
Ukraine's National Security Council on December 3 claimed that the separatists suffered heavy losses after launching attacks on the airport.
(AFP, dpa)