EU's Mogherini sees Russia sanctions being extended:
European Union foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini says she expects sanctions against Russia over its actions in Ukraine to be renewed in July.
"The heads of state and governments had required that the sanctions be lifted when the Minsk agreement is fully implemented," Mogherini said in an interview published on May 19 by Germany's Die Welt newspaper. "But, that's something that we haven't achieved yet."
The Minsk deal signed in February 2015 has helped reduce fighting between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, but sporadic clashes have continued.
The conflict has killed more than 9,300 people since April 2014.
The EU imposed sanctions targeting Russia's oil, defense, and banking sectors in 2014, and they are due to expire at the end of July.
Some EU countries have suggested sanctions might be eased in an effort to defuse tensions with Moscow. (AFP, Reuters)
Chechnya convicts two Ukrainians of fighting with separatists:
By RFE/RL's Russian Service
GROZNY, Russia -- The Supreme Court of Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya has found two Ukrainian citizens guilty of fighting alongside Chechen separatists in the 1990s.
The jury on May 19 found Mykola Karpyuk and Stanislav Klykh guilty of participating in the activities of a militant group, including murder and attempted murder.
Karpyuk and Klykh went on trial in September.
Investigators said they were members of the group known as the Ukrainian National Assembly-Ukrainian National Self-defense (UNA-UNSO) and arrived in Chechnya in 1994 to fight alongside Chechen separatists against Russia's federal forces, killing dozens of Russian soldiers.
UNA-UNSO has been officially branded as extremist and banned in Russia.
The Moscow-based Memorial human rights center has recognized Karpyuk and Klykh as political prisoners.
This ends our live blogging for May 18. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.