You may have read about the protests in Kyiv at the weekend. RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service has this video report:
Supporters Of Ukrainian Blockade Clash With Police
Ukrainian nationalists joined other protesters in Kyiv to support a blockade on coal-producing regions controlled by Russia-backed separatists. Riot police clashed with some of the protesters at the rally on the evening of February 19 in the center of the capital.
Here's an item from our news desk:
Trump Associates Reportedly Facilitated Back-Channel Ukraine Peace Plan
An exclusive report in The New York Times says a lawyer for U.S. President Donald Trump has helped a pro-Russia opposition Ukrainian lawmaker submit to Trump's administration a proposed alternative peace plan for the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
According to the February 19 report, Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen submitted the report to former national security adviser Michael Flynn about one week before Flynn resigned over allegations that he misinformed the administration about the nature of his contacts with Russia's ambassador to the United States.
Cohen -- who has no foreign-policy experience -- is himself under investigation by the FBI for possible connections with Russian intelligence. He denies the allegations.
The plan was created by Ukrainian opposition lawmaker Andriy Artemenko, who claims to have documents proving corruption by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
According to The New York Times report, Artemenko's plan outlines "a way for President Trump to lift sanctions against Russia."
Artemenko told The New York Times that the primary goal of his plan was to end the war in eastern Ukraine.
He said the secondary goal was to improve relations between the United States and Russia.
"If I could achieve both in one stroke, it would be a home run," Artemenko told the newspaper.
Artemenko also said that his plan has been encouraged by senior Russian officials.
Artemenko said he was put into contact with Cohen by Felix Sater, a Russian-American business associate of Trump's who pleaded guilty in a mafia-connected racketeering case in 1998.
Cohen told The New York Times that he personally left Artemenko's proposal in Flynn's office while Flynn was still serving as Trump's national security adviser.
Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, Valeriy Chaly, criticized Artemenko's initiative -- saying the opposition lawmaker was "not entitled to present any alternative peace plans on behalf of Ukraine."
More than 9,750 people have been killed in fighting in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russia-backed separatists since April 2014.
With reporting by The New York Times
Good morning,
We'll start the live blog this week with a few tweets that caught our eye overnight:
And that ends the live blogging for today...
From our news desk on the clashes in Kyiv:
Nationalists and other protesters clashed with police in Kyiv as demonstrators rallied in support of a blockade on coal-producing regions controlled by separatists.
Volunteer battalions last month began halting railway connections with districts in the Donetsk and Luhansk region, a move aimed at cutting off trade with regions controlled by Russia-backed fighters.
But it has also resulted coal shortages across the rest of the country and power shortages. President Petro Poroshenko last week declared a partial state of emergency that called on Ukrainians and industries to conserve electricity.
Demonstrators gathered in downtown Kyiv February 19 in support of the blockade,and some protesters later clashed with riot police.
News reports said protesters chanted "Shame on the corrupt government!" and "The enemy is within!"
Yehor Sobeliev, a member of parliament, told RFE/RL that among the seven detained by police was the leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, Mykola Kokhanivskyi.
There have been clashes between activists and police in Kyiv. They are commemorating Maidan's "heavenly hundred" and supporting an economic blockade of the Donbas.