Here's a Savchenko update from our news desk:
A Russian lawmaker says a Ukrainian military pilot held in Russia for alleged involvement in the deaths of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine cannot be released simply because she is a Ukrainian lawmaker in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
Aleksei Pushkov told journalists on January 26 that demands to release Nadia Savchenko "have no legal grounds" because she is accused of a crime committed before she was elected to Ukraine's parliament.
PACE President Anne Brasseur appealed to Russian State Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin last week to help free Savchenko, whose health has severely deteriorated after 46 days of a hunger strike.
But Naryshkin said Savchenko's fate is up to the Russian courts.
Savchenko, who was captured by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine last summer and transferred to Russia, says Moscow has no right to detain her.
Savchenko won a seat in Ukraine's parliament in October and was included in the Ukrainian PACE delegation.
(TASS, Interfax)
More on today's parliamentary vote from our newsroom:
Ukraine Parliament Calls Russia 'Aggressor State,' Seeks More Aid, Sanctions
From our newsroom, more on today's statement condemning Russian actions:
Ukraine's parliament has adopted a statement branding Russia an "aggressor state," a move that deputies hope will pave the way for punishment under international law.
The Verkhovna Rada also voted on January 27 to define separatist self-styled "people's republics" in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as "terrorist organizations," and to appeal to the international community for additional nonlethal military aid and stronger sanctions against Russia.
Speaking ahead of the vote, Radical Party leader Oleh Lyashko, a member of the governing coalition, said, "Legal recognition as an aggressor state entails consequences" under the UN Charter and UN resolutions.
In reaction, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin called the Ukrainian statement "thoughtless and irresponsible," and said it was aimed at blocking the efforts to end the conflict between pro-Russian rebels and government forces that has killed more than 5,000 people in eastern Ukraine since April.
Based on reporting by Reuters and Interfax
Via Reuters, Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem speaking today after arriving for a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels:
"I think we need to support Ukraine in any case, but of course the situation and the escalation makes it even more urgent. So today we will talk about what is needed and how to finance this support forUkraine."