Another Kyiv update from our news desk:
European Union leaders on April 27 resisted Ukraine's demands for peacekeepers, as monitors reported a surge in shelling in the war-wracked east.
The EU did, however, agree to boost humanitarian support as Kyiv fights pro-Moscow separatists.
Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) say shelling continues on in the east despite a cease-fire deal signed in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, in February.
Ukraine's pro-Western President Petro Poroshenko called on the EU officials "to deploy an international peacekeeping mission in our country."
But Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council of EU leaders, said after the summit, "We know about Ukrainian expectations today, but it's impossible to send a military mission."
Tusk did say, however, that the EU would "send as soon as possible a civilian assessment mission."
The conflict between government troops and pro-Russian rebels has killed more than 6,000 people in the past year and displaced more than a million, according to the United Nations.
Poroshenko also called on the EU to consider Ukraine's bid to join the bloc, and said his country will be able meet conditions to apply for EU membership within five years.
(AFP, AP, and Interfax)
According to this report, the report on Ukraine that the late Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov was working on before his brutal assassination in February this year will be published on May 12.
Some more updates from Kyiv via RFE/RL's news desk:
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called on the European Union to consider Ukraine's bid to join the bloc.
"I am calling on the EU to admit that Ukraine can become an EU member in the future," said Poroshenko, addressing EU leaders at a summit in Kyiv on April 27.
Poroshenko said Ukraine needs considerable EU support as it carries out necessary political and economic reforms.
Poroshenko said Ukraine will be able meet conditions to apply for EU membership within five years.
The EU-Ukraine summit is the first since their Association Agreement was signed last year after the ouster of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych.
Talks are expected to include the status of the Minsk agreement, a deal signed in February for a cease-fire and steps to end the conflict that has killed more than 6,100 people in eastern Ukraine.
Leaders were also expected to address the status of economic and political reforms in Ukraine, financial assistance to Kyiv, and Poroshenko's request for European peacekeepers to help monitor the cease-fire.
Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said during the talks that Ukraine wants to see "European partners and friends among shareholders" of Ukraine's gas transportation system.
(Interfax, Reuters)