Ukraine Soldier Killed In Fresh Fighting In East
One Ukrainian soldier has been killed and four wounded in attacks over the past 24 hours by Russia-backed separatists in the east of the country.
Speaking to reporters on July 1, military spokesman Andriy Lysenko did not disclose further details on the fresh casualties.
The conflict in eastern Ukraine has killed more than 9,300 people since April 2014 and NATO warned last week that the internationally monitored cease-fire there was barely holding.
Under the cease-fire agreement reached last year in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, both the separatists and Ukrainian government forces pledged to pull back heavy weaponry as well as take other steps toward a peace settlement.
In a statement on June 29, Ivan Simonovic, head of the UN Human Rights chief's office in New York, warned of a possible "reescalation of wide-scale hostilities if urgent action is not taken to separate sides and remove heavy weaponry."
Based on reporting by Interfax and AP
Ukraine PM Predicts EU Membership Within 10 Years
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroysman has predicted Ukraine will join the European Union within the next 10 years.
In an interview with a German newspaper published on July 1, Hroysman said Ukraine's Association Agreement with the EU will serve as a catalyst for reforms in Ukraine.
"We are going the European way and that means for us: freedom, human rights, and a strong economy," Hroysman told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
"We should bring our norms in compliance with EU norms. A lot has been already done, especially in battling corruption. For example, we have created a transparent public procurement system," he added.
Hroysman said his country still believed strongly in the bloc, despite Britain's recent vote to leave.
"I respect the right of a sovereign state to take such a decision," he said. "But I still think that achievements should be protected."
Based on reporting by AFP and Ukraine Today
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (click to enlarge):
A so-far-unsubstantiated report that former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has died:
This ends our live blogging for July 1. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.
Putin Hints At Troop Movements If Finland Joins NATO
By RFE/RL
President Vladimir Putin has indicated that Russia would move troops toward its border with Finland if the Nordic country became a member of NATO, whose eastward expansion since the fall of the Soviet Union has long angered the Kremlin.
"Finnish forces would cease being independent, cease being sovereign in the full sense of that word," Putin said after a July 1 meeting in Finland with President Sauli Niinisto. "They would become part of NATO's military infrastructure, which overnight would be at the borders of the Russian Federation."
Putin added: "Do you think that we will continue as before by keeping our troops 1,500 [kilometers] away?"
His comments came ahead of next week's NATO summit in Warsaw that Niinisto has been invited to attend.
Alliance members are expected to endorse a larger deployment of alliance military forces to Eastern Europe.
NATO says the planned increase of forces on its eastern flank is in response to Russian aggression in Eastern Europe, including its 2014 seizure and annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and the ongoing war between Russia-backed separatists and Kyiv's military in eastern Ukraine.
Finland has said it will continue to participate in NATO exercises and decide for itself whether or not to join the alliance.