Good morning. We'll get the live blog rolling today with this item that came in overnight from RFE/RL's news desk:
Putin Warns Merkel Disruptions Possible In Gas Transiting Through Ukraine
President Vladimir Putin has warned German Chancellor Angela Merkel of a threat to the gas supplies that Russia sends to Europe via Ukraine, the Kremlin said on December 13.
Putin told Merkel in a telephone call that Ukraine has been reluctant to sign a contract on Russian gas supplies for the coming winter and that it "threatens transit to Europe."
Moscow has warned that Ukraine could siphon off Russian gas intended for European consumers.
A spokesman for the Ukrainian prime minister said, however, that Ukraine remains a reliable transporter of Russian gas to European consumers.
"Natural gas delivered by Gazprom to the eastern border of Ukraine for transport purposes will be shipped to the western border in a proper way, in full amount, and in keeping with the existing contract for natural gas transportation concluded between Naftogaz of Ukraine and Gazprom," Dmytro Stolyarchuk told the Interfax news agency.
European nations receive about a third of their gas imports through a pipeline that transits Ukraine. Past disputes between Moscow and Kyiv have led to cutoffs, including a 2009 standoff that caused serious disruptions in winter supplies.
A new dispute surfaced during negotiations over gas delivery on December 9, with Kyiv demanding new contract terms that Moscow refuses to provide.
Based on reporting by AP, Interfax, and TASS
We are now closing the live blog for today, but we'll be back again tomorrow to follow all the latest developments. Until then, you can catch up with all our other Ukraine coverage here.
Here's a Savchenko update from RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service:
Savchenko Quit Ukrainian Party, But Plans To Continue Politics
Ukraine's Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) Party said on December 13 that Ukrainian lawmaker Nadia Savchenko resigned from the political party at the end of October.
The announcement -- confirmed by Savchenko's spokesperson Tatyana Protorchenko -- came a day after the military aviator turned lawmaker confirmed that she had met in Minsk with eastern Ukraine's Russia-backed separatist leaders Aleksandr Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky.
Protorchenko said Savchenko remains a member of Batkivshchyna's parliamentary faction for now, but will be concentrating her political activity on her own "civil platform" and will "soon start her career as an independent lawmaker."
Batkivshchyna leader Yulia Tymoshenko told Ukraine's 112 television channel on December 12 that Savchenko could be expelled from the party's faction when it meets on December 20.
She said Shavchenko had been called to that meeting "to talk and to take a decision."
Tymoshenko also said "Savchenko can plan her life and political activity however she likes. She has nothing in common with the Batkivshchyna Party."
Savchenko told RFE/RL on December 13 that she will continue her efforts to free Ukrainians held captive by Russia-backed separatists.
'Positive' Talks
Savchenko, who was jailed in Russia in 2014 and became a national symbol of resistance before her release in May, rejected reports that her talks with Zakharchenko and Plotnitsky were secret. She said there had been months of preparations.
She denied that her meeting was a step toward legalizing "terrorists," saying "nobody can legalize what is illegal."
Savchenko also said there are no grounds to expel her from the parliamentary National Defense Committee, as urged by some lawmakers, and that what Ukraine needs now is peace.
According to Savchenko, two Russian representatives responsible for humanitarian issues were present at the talks in Minsk.
She said a chief goal of the meeting was to outline the number of people held by both sides.
She said that a separatist claim that some 700 separatist fighters are in Kyiv's custody is far from the truth.
Savchenko described the talks as positive and said that they will continue, but that no specific date has been set for the next round.
With reporting by The Kyiv Post and Interfax
An interesting read, retweeted by the former U.S. ambassador to Kyiv:
Here's a video from RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, in which Nadia Savchenko responds to criticism she's faced since meeting with Donbas separatists in Minsk:
Savchenko Defends Meeting With Russia-Backed Separatist Leaders
Speaking to RFE/RL on December 13, Ukrainian lawmaker Nadia Savchenko, who was jailed in Russia in 2014 and became a national symbol of resilience before her release in May, rejected critics' claims that her talks with the separatist leaders Aleksandr Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky was a step towards legalizing "terrorists."
Here's an item from our news desk:
Ukraine's Defense Ministry Says Website Targeted By Cyberattacks
Ukraine's Defense Ministry says its website was temporarily knocked out service by cyberattacks that appeared to be aimed at preventing the release of news about Kyiv’s conflict in eastern regions with Russia-backed separatists.
Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said the website was regularly targeted on December 13 by denial-of-service attacks.
Motuzyanyk said it was not clear who was responsible for the latest attack, but the situation had been brought under control.
Ukraine's Finance Ministry and State Treasury websites were attacked a week earlier.
The Finance Ministry blamed hackers who it said were trying to discredit the government's reform drive.
At the end of 2015, Ukraine's State Security Service (SBU) said Russia was responsible for a cyberattack on its power grid that temporarily shut off electricity to part of western Ukraine.