Another news update, courtesy of our correspondent in Brussels:
A Russian delegation is traveling to Brussels to participate in negotiations on Ukraine's association agreement with the European Union.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the on May 17 visit by the Russian delegation after his talks on May 10 in Moscow with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Putin said he and Merkel discussed the need to continue negotiations on Ukraine's association agreement "with regard to Russian economic interests."
Russia's Economic Development Minister Aleksei Ulyukayev is heading the Kremlin's delegation to the trilateral talks with the European Commission.
Most of the talks will take place on May 18, but some meetings could take place on May 19.
Ukraine's delegation is led by Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin while the European Commission is represented by Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem.
The Kremlin has submitted a list to the European Commission of how it thinks Russia's economy will be hurt by Ukraine's trade deal with the European Union.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels and Interfax-Ukraine
Here's an update from our news desk:
Ukraine's military said on May 17 that three of its soldiers were killed and 17 wounded during the previous 24 hours in eastern Ukraine by separatist attacks that violate the Minsk ceasefire agreement.
Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said two of the deaths were the result of a mortar attack near the town of Svitlodarsk to the northeast of separate-controlled Donetsk.
Rebel leaders on May 17 accused government forces of shelling their positions at strategic crossroads in eastern Ukraine.
The violence comes a day after Ukraine's military accused the Russian-backed separatists of continuing attacks against government forces outside Donetsk and at Shyrokyne, to the east of the government-held coastal city of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on May 13 that 83 Ukrainian servicemen have been killed in rebel attacks since February when the Minsk cease-fire deal was meant to come into force.
(Reuters, AFP, TASS)