Report: Trump Aides Fought Release Of Ukraine's Tymoshenko In 2012
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign aides in 2012 reportedly fought the release of Ukrainian political leader Yulia Tymoshenko when she was in jail.
The Associated Press reports that a consulting firm run by former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy Rick Gates was working for Ukraine's Party of Regions and directed a multimillion-dollar lobbying effort between 2012 and 2014 that undercut U.S. public support for Tymoshenko, though she was considered a political prisoner by the United States and European governments at the time.
Manafort resigned from the Trump campaign last week amid revelations about his undisclosed lobbying for the Ukrainian party and Ukraine's pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted by a popular uprising in 2014.
Gates continues to serve as Trump's campaign liaison with the Republican National Committee.
Tymoshenko, who was Ukraine's prime minister from 2007 to 2010, was jailed on embezzlement charges following her government's defeat by Yanukovych in 2010.
Based on reporting by AP
We are now closing the live blog for today. Until we resume again tomorrow morning, you can keep up with all our other Ukraine coverage here.
And here's another video from RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service:
Ukrainian Soldiers Fight Separatists In Shyrokyne
Clashes between Ukrainian soldiers and Russia-backed separatists continued for another night in Shyrokyne, near the port city of Mariupol. The nighttime fighting has been nearly constant in the town for several weeks.
Here's an item from RFE/RL's news desk on diplomatic back-and-forth over Ukraine:
Leaders Of Germany, Russia, France To Discuss Situation In Eastern Ukraine
The Kremlin has announced that the leaders of Russia, Germany, and France will meet on the sidelines of an upcoming G20 summit to discuss the situation in eastern Ukraine.
A recent upsurge in fighting in eastern Ukraine, where government forces are fighting Russia-backed separatists, plus fresh tensions in Crimea are raising concerns that a fragile cease-fire agreed in Minsk in February 2015 could collapse.
The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the situation in eastern Ukraine during a phone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande on August 23.
The Kremlin said the three will meet on the sidelines of a summit for the Group of 20 (G20) group of major economies, which is being held in China on September 4-5.
A German government spokesman said the three leaders shared concern about cease-fire breaches in eastern Ukraine and that Merkel and Hollande had urged Putin to do what he could to calm the situation.
Putin earlier this month accused Kyiv of plotting "sabotage" attacks in Crimea while Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko warned of a possible "full-scale" Russian invasion.