Soldier killed in east, as holiday cease-fire planned:
By RFE/RL
Ukraine's military says that one of its soldiers has been killed and four wounded amid multiple cease-fire violations by Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in the previous 24 hours.
A Defense Ministry statement said the separatists violated the cease-fire 15 times using mortars and heavy artillery.
Separatists, meanwhile, claimed that government forces violated the cease-fire 36 times using assault rifles, grenade launchers, mortars, and artillery.
Fighting between Kyiv's forces and the Russia-backed separatists who hold parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions has killed more than 10,300 people since April 2014.
Several cease-fire deals announced as part of the Minsk accords -- September 2014 and February 2015 pacts aimed to resolve the conflict -- have failed to hold.
Rights groups and Western officials have voiced alarm about a recent increase in hostilities.
At a meeting in Minsk on December 20, representatives of Russia, Ukraine, he separatists, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), affirmed their "commitment to a comprehensive, sustainable and unlimited cease-fire" starting at midnight on December 22-23.
The cease-fire was agreed "in connection with the forthcoming Christmas and New Year festivities" and existing agreements and obligations, it said.
The participants also reiterated that they hope to implement an exchange of detainees "before the New Year and Christmas holidays."
Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7. (w/Interfax, TASS)
U.S. approves license for Kyiv to buy light weapons:
By RFE/RL
The U.S. State Department says it has approved an export license for Ukraine to buy certain types of light weapons and small arms from U.S. manufacturers.
Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said on December 20 that Congress was notified of the decision on December 13.
The license covers weapons in categories such as semiautomatic and automatic firearms up to .50 caliber weapons, combat shotguns, silencers, military scopes, flash suppressors, and parts.
It does not allow the sale of heavier weapons, such as Javelin antitank missiles, that Ukraine has urged Washington to provide in order to strengthen its capabilities against the Russia-backed separatists it is fighting in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
There are conflicting reports about the significance of the development.
An article in The Washington Post described the State Department decision as approval of "the first-ever U.S. commercial sale of lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine" and a "clear break" with past policy.
But the State Department and other media reports contradicted that.
"Under the previous two administrations, the U.S. government has approved export licenses to Ukraine, so this is nothing new," Nauert said.
According to Reuters, State Department records show that Ukraine has bought small amounts of light weapons and small arms for several years, both before and after Russia's seizure of Ukraine's Crimea region in March 2014.
U.S. exporters can apply for direct commercial-sales licenses, which are reviewed by the State Department on a case-by-case basis, Nauert said.
Nauert said that the U.S. government has not directly provided lethal defensive equipment to Ukraine, but has not ruled out doing so.
The top U.S. military commander, General Joseph Dunford, said earlier this year that he recommended that the United States provide lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine to help the country "protect [its] sovereignty."
Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on September 26 that a proposal to provide lethal aid to Ukraine was awaiting a decision from the White House.
Ukrainian authorities have asked in particular for portable Javelin missiles, which they say would help soldiers in eastern Ukraine fend off attacks from tanks and self-propelled artillery.
Last month, ABC News reported that senior aides would present U.S. President Donald Trump with a $47 million plan to finance and sell high-tech defensive weapons to Ukraine.
Citing a State Department source, ABC News on November 18 said the proposed package included Javelins.
The war between Kyiv's forces and the Russia-backed separatists has killed more than 10,300 people since April 2014.
The U.S. envoy for peace efforts in eastern Ukraine, Kurt Volker, said on December 19 that 2017 had been "the most violent year" of the conflict and warned that hostilities were on the rise.
European Union foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini said on December 20 that the humanitarian and security situation in the conflict zone has "deteriorated abruptly." (w/The Washington Post, Reuters, CNN, ABC, The Hill)