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Latest from our news desk:
Ukraine has accused Russia of looting two of its oil rigs after the Crimea-based oil and gas firm Chornomornaftogaz moved the Black Sea rigs into Russian territorial waters.
Russia seized Chornomornaftogaz, formerly a state-owned Ukrainian company, when it illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
On December 14, Chornomornaftogaz said it moved the two oil rigs, worth about $357 million, from a location in international waters about 150 kilometers off the coast from Odesa.
It said the move was due to “the complicated international situation and risk of losing vital assets.”
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry on December 16 described the move as “large-scale looting” by Russia.
It expressed “deep indignation in connection with the actions of Russia that violate international law, once again aimed at violating the sovereign rights of Ukraine.”
Ukraine’s state-run energy firm Naftogaz, which owned 100 percent of Chornomornaftogaz before it was seized, says it will seek compensation from Russia in international courts for its annexed Crimean oil and gas assets -- worth a total of $15.7 billion.
Our digital team's quick take on the Saakashvili-Avakov incident:
Good morning. We'll get the live blog rolling with this item that came in overnight from our news desk:
Ukraine 'Ready To Pay Price' For EU Deal, Putin Suspends Trade Zone
Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko says his country is "ready to pay the price" for a trade deal with the European Union after Moscow moved to restrict its own trade ties with Kyiv over the EU-Ukraine pact that is due to take effect on January 1.
Poroshenko made the remarks upon arriving in Brussels on December 16 after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his government to suspend a free trade zone with Ukraine beginning on January 1.
It was controversy over the EU-Ukraine trade deal that triggered the unrest in Kyiv that culminated with the ousting of the pro-Russian former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Russia's annexation of Crimea in early 2014.
Earlier on December 16, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Kyiv would suspend trade with Russian-occupied Crimea by January 15.
Yatsenyuk said Ukraine's cabinet had decided that "the supplying of goods, work, and services to Crimea and from Crimea" will be banned.
The only exceptions, he said, would be "personal items, socially important foods, and humanitarian aid."
Yatsenyuk said the restoration of electricity supplied to Crimea was a separate issue that could only be decided by Ukraine's Security and Defense Council.
Crimea is suffering long blackouts after pylons that supplied the peninsula were blown up by unknown people in November.
The issue has caused a crisis in Crimea and has worsened Ukrainian-Russian tensions.
Russia has suspended coal exports to Ukraine in retaliation.
(Reuters, TASS, AP)
A comment from the Polish president, who arrived in Kyiv for a visit yesterday
There are reports that jailed Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko, who is awaiting trial in Russia on charges of complicity in the killing of two Russian journalists, is going on hunger strike until the proceedings end. The charges against Savchenko have been widely criticized as being fabricated. She already protested her detention previously by going on hunger strike for more than 80 days.