Here are some more details from our news desk on Putin's remarks to Russian state TV today:
Russian President Vladimir Putin says a war with Ukraine is "unlikely" and he hopes "it will never happen."
Putin, in an interview with Russian state television broadcast on February 23, called such a war "an apocalyptic scenario."
Ukraine, the United States, NATO, and many EU governments have long said that Russia has provided arms, military hardware, and troops to pro-Russian separatists fighting the Ukrainian government in eastern Ukraine.
Putin again rejected those charges, and said it was bad for Kyiv to blame Russia for Ukrainian forces' defeat in the town of Debaltseve.
Putin added that he thinks he "understands" and "generally trusts" German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande.
He said he maintains contact with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and believes that the Minsk cease-fire agreement will be adhered to and that the situation in eastern Ukraine "will gradually return to normal."
(With reporting by Reuters and Interfax)
We are now closing the live blog for today. Until we resume again tomorrow morning, you can keep up with all our ongoing Ukraine coverage here.
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
A Ukrainian military official says Russian-backed rebels have continued attacking government positions in violation of a cease-fire agreement.
In televised comments on February 24, military spokesman Anatoly Stelmakh said separatist forces targeted villages near the strategic town of Debaltseve seven times late on February 23.
Stelmakh said separatists also fired artillery and mortar rounds in three areas near the rebel-held provincial capital of Donetsk and fought government forces for 30 minutes early on February 24 near the Azov Sea coastal city of Mariupol.
A February 12 deal brokered by the leaders of France and Germany required both sides to cease fire and pull heavy weapons back from a separation line, but Ukraine said on February 23 that it could not begin the pullback because rebels were still launching attacks.
Stelmakh repeated that on February 24, saying government forces would begin withdrawing weapons once there is "a complete cease-fire for at least 24 hours."