German, French foreign ministers in Kyiv:
The foreign ministers of Germany and France have arrived in Kyiv for a visit aimed at reaffirming EU support for Ukraine’s leadership.
The visit by Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Jean-Marc Ayrault comes after Ukraine's pro-Western coalition lost its majority in parliament last week, triggering fears of political instability.
In a joint editorial published on February 22, Steinmeier and Ayrault praised Ukraine for its reforms thus far, but also urged Kyiv to push for greater progress in battling corruption.
The two wrote that reforms are so important that "all political and economic forces in the country" should take part.
They also noted the importance of enacting the peace agreement signed in Minsk one year ago.
The accords brought major hostilities in Ukraine to an end and installed a fragile cease-fire.
More than 9,100 people have been killed in eastern Ukraine in the past two years of fighting. (AFP, FAZ.net)
Here is today's map of the military situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (click to enlarge):
This ends our live blogging for February 22. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.
France, Germany urge Kyiv to overcome turmoil, enact reforms:
The foreign ministers of Germany and France have urged Ukraine to overcome its political turmoil and move ahead with reforms needed to revive the economy and carry out the Minsk peace agreement.
Upon arriving in Kyiv on February 22, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he and his French counterpart, Jean-Marc Ayrault, saw no alternative to the Minsk agreement for ending the fighting in eastern Ukraine between government troops and Russian-backed separatists.
"We need a readiness from the Russian side to implement the Minsk deal.... But we also need Ukraine," Steinmeier said, urging Ukrainian leaders to set aside domestic political battles and push ahead with needed reforms.
Ukraine has so far failed to enact measures to increase autonomy for the eastern regions and allow local elections there, while Ukraine claims that Russia violates the peace agreement by sending troops and weapons to back up the separatists.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told Steinmeier and Ayrault that he hoped they would help force Russia to keep its side of the agreement, which was drafted with the participation of France and Germany in the Belarusian capital a year ago.
Separately, U.S. President Barack Obama in a phone call on February 22 told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Moscow needs to honor the cease-fire in Ukraine and allow a special monitoring mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to have full access to the conflict zone, including the border with Russia, the White House said.
The European diplomats' visit to Kyiv was meant to pave the way for another round of talks on carrying out the Minsk agreement on March 3 in Paris.
The French and German ministers also used the visit to urge Ukraine to stick with economic reforms prescribed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to ensure the fund does not suspend its $17.5 billion bailout program for Kyiv.
The IMF put the loan program on hold after the resignation of Ukraine's economy minister amid charges of corruption within the ruling coaliation earlier this month, in a development that sparked a political crisis.
Seeking to quell the crisis, President Petro Poroshenko last week urged Yatsenyuk to resign along with his government, but the prime minister survived a confidence vote in parliament.
Steinmeier told Yatsenyuk that European leaders "were following -- especially the last week -- with great interest and some concern."
He warned that the IMF is looking for political "stability" before offering further loans to Ukraine. Kyiv has also received loans of over $30 billion from the European Union and the United States that are linked to the IMF funding.
Ayrault praised Yatsenyuk for pushing through parliament some unpopular belt-tightening measures that are meant to reform Ukraine's economy and revive growth.
"But we are also assessing all the work that remains to be done and it is considerable," Ayrault said. "I would even say that time is running out."
Ukraine has been in a severe recession, with output falling by 10 percent, and experts say further funding from the IMF will be needed to refloat the economy. (w/ AFP, AP)