Latest on Kerry:
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says President Barack Obama will make a decision “soon” on whether the United States will provide lethal weapons to Ukraine to help it fight a Russian-backed military offensive by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Kerry made the remark after talks in Kyiv on February 5 with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
Earlier in the day, after talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Kerry firmly placed the onus on Moscow to end a war that has killed more than 5,350 people since April.
Kerry said Washington wants a peaceful solution but "cannot close our eyes to Russian tanks crossing the border" into Ukraine.
He said: "Russia's continued aggression in the east" is the gravest threat facing Ukraine today.
Kerry called for the immediate implementation of a tattered September cease-fire deal and the withdrawal of all Russian troops and weaponry from Ukrainian territory.
He also said Moscow must "respect the international border" between Russia and Ukraine.
Yatsenyuk mocked Russian President Vladimir Putin’s denial that Russian forces are battling Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine, saying Russia is “the only country denying Russian military boots are on the ground.”
Yatsenyuk said Putin can “use my glasses if he needs” them.
People are angry about LifeNews receiving a media award.
More from our news desk on the tanking of the hryvnya:
Ukraine has raised a key interest rate by 5.5 percentage points following a massive decline in the value of its hryvnya currency.
Ukraine's national bank on February 5 announced the refinancing rate would be increased from 14 to 19.5 percent in a bid to "provide a stable and controllable development of the market situation."
The hike, which takes effect February 6, comes after the value of the hryvnya value fell 32 percent on February 5 to a record low of 24.5 per dollar by mid-afternoon.
The move appears to have reduced the pressure on the hryvnya, which rebounded and was trading later on February 5 at 18 hryvnyas per dollar.
The hryvnya tumbled after the national bank loosened its reins on the currency, canceling daily currency auctions in an attempt to eliminate “multiple exchange rates” on interbank and unofficial black markets.
Ukraine's economy has been battered by nearly 10 months of fighting between Russia-backed separatists and government troops in eastern Ukraine.
In 2014, the value of the hryvnya fell 48 percent against the dollar.
Here's video of Kerry saying that Russia must "demonstrate its commitment to ending the bloodshed" in Ukraine. Speaking alongside Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Kyiv, Kerry said Moscow must abandon its support for separatists, remove its troops and weapons from Ukrainian territory, and press the rebels to abide by cease-fire commitments.