Here's an update from our news desk:
France Voices Concern Over Eastern Ukraine Truce Violations
France has voiced concern over rising cease-fire violations in eastern Ukraine between Kyiv's forces and pro-Russia separatists.
The French Foreign Ministry statement on April 11 comes days after the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said its observers monitoring the cease-fire had been shot at for the second time in a week.
"The recent incidents targeting monitors close to the contact line are not acceptable," the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement, urging both sides to guarantee OSCE access to their respective areas.
"The situation can only be stabilized by the full application of the Minsk agreement," it said, referring to the peace deal backed by Kyiv, its Western allies, and Moscow.
The conflict has killed more than 9,100 since April 2014.
Late on April 9, the OSCE said a group of its monitors had been shot at in Zhovanka, northeast of the city of Donetsk, which is controlled by pro-Russia separatists.The report did not say who fired the shots.
OSCE observers were also shot at on April 7. No one was wounded in either incident.
On April 10,spokesperson for EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini condemned the recent incidents targeting OSCE observers as "unacceptable," calling on all sides to "refrain from such actions."
Based on reporting by Reuters and dpa
RFE/RL's Ron Synowitz has been profiling the man widely tipped to succeed Arseniy Yatsenyuk:
Volodymyr Hroysman: Ukraine's Likely Next Prime Minister Is Loyal Poroshenko Ally
The man identified by Ukraine's outgoing prime minister as his successor, Volodymyr Hroysman, is a 38-year-old loyalist of President Petro Poroshenko who was thrust onto the national scene after the Euromaidan unrest that toppled a government.
Hroysman's meteoric rise from mayoral upstart to speaker of a notoriously obstreperous parliament was fueled in part by perceptions that a relative outsider with little political baggage could unite rival lawmakers, but it also prompted questions about his inexperience and political indebtedness to Poroshenko.
Announcing his planned resignation to avoid any "destabilization of the executive branch during a war" despite having batted down a no-confidence vote by lawmakers last month, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said the ruling Petro Poroshenko Bloc "has nominated" Hroysman to the head the next government.
Hroysman, who recently underlined Kyiv's commitment to Western-backed reforms, responded by saying he was prepared to lead the next Ukrainian government.
Prior to the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014, with pro-European and anticorruption anger boiling over under the Euromaidan banner, Hroysman had expressed no desire to serve in the national government, telling journalists he was not interested in Kyiv or any ministry post.
But within days of Yanukovych's exit, Hroysman became government minister for regional development and a deputy prime minister.
The ascension to the presidency in June of industrial mogul Poroshenko, whose confectionery conglomerate Roshen had recently built a plant in Hroysman's hometown, by many accounts lent further weight to Hroysman's political ambitions.
There was also speculation that the appointment of Hroysman, a Jew, to a top government post was aimed in part at blunting suggestions in Russia's state-controlled media that the post-Yanukovych government in Kyiv was unduly influenced by anti-Semites. After Hroysman was named deputy prime minister, the BBC quoted chief Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich as saying it was meant to "shut the mouths of those who say the government is anti-Semitic."
In his government posts, Hroysman coordinated Kyiv's relief efforts for civilians displaced by the war against Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
He was also put in charge of Kyiv's investigation into the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine, arguably a key turning point in the conflict as public outrage allowed Western governments to impose sanctions against Russia.
Read the entire article here
There's a nice Calvert Journal photo gallery in the Guardian's New East section today:
Good morning. We'll start the live blog for today with this short item from our news desk looking at what might happen now that Yatsenyuk is resigning:
Ukrainian President's Ally Set For Prime Minister
The resignation of Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has cleared the way for an ally of the president to lead a reshaped government as the country looks to end its worst political crisis in two years.
Yatsenyuk quit on April 10 after weeks of pressure, but he said his party would remain part of a revamped ruling coalition, alongside that of President Petro Poroshenko.
Yatsenyuk, who came to power in 2014, said he would submit his resignation to parliament on April 12.
The current speaker, Volodymyr Hroysman, has been nominated by Poroshenko's party as a replacement and may be confirmed by lawmakers the same day.
Poroshenko said in an interview that he had received assurances during a recent visit to Washington that agreeing on a new cabinet would be enough to restart billions of dollars of international aid.