Another story doing the rounds today that has ramifications for Ukraine (from RFE/RL's news desk):
Washington Committed To Europe Alliances, Says U.S. Envoy To UN
NATO is the "strongest alliance in history" and the United States is committed to its alliances in Europe, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on February 21.
Washington is working to make the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) "even more effective," Haley said, and policy differences with European allies should not be seen as anything less than "total commitment to [U.S.] alliances in Europe."
Speaking to the UN Security Council during a debate on conflicts in Europe, Haley said the United States is ready to improve ties with Russia but will not compromise on its support for NATO and the European Union.
Haley said "Russia's attempts to destabilize Ukraine" were among the most serious challenges facing the continent.
"The United States thinks it's possible to have a better relationship with Russia -- after all, we confront many of the same threats," Haley said.
"But greater cooperation with Russia cannot come at the expense of the security of our European friends and allies."
Haley said the United States was committed to "the institutions that keep Europe safe" and that it "will not waver" in its support for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Russia has strongly opposed the expansion of NATO into Eastern Europe, a move which it sees as a policy of containment directed against Moscow.
The United States wants to deepen cooperation within NATO while "keeping the door open to new allies," she said.
Haley's remarks came as European governments are seeking reassurance after U.S. President Donald Trump praised Britain's decision to leave the European Union, and criticized NATO members for failing to spend more on defense.
With reporting by Reuters and AP
Another item from our news desk. It seems Moscow and Kyiv are at loggerheads again, this time over the late Vitaly Churkin:
Ukraine, Russia Spar Over UN Security Council Reaction To Churkin Death
Moscow and Kyiv are at odds over a statement issued by the UN Security Council mourning the February 20 death of Russia's long-time envoy to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin.
Russia angrily accused Ukraine, which holds the rotating presidency of the 15-nation Security Council this month, of blocking the adoption of a "presidential statement" honoring Churkin.
“This is wild and inhuman,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on February 21. He also accused Ukraine of acting in an "un-Christian" way, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "May God judge them."
Kyiv rejected the criticism, saying that the Security Council issued a press statement but suggesting that a formal presidential statement would have been out of place.
"We didn’t block anything," Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maryana Betsa said.
She said that "a statement was issued for the press, as has been done in such cases in the past. There haven’t been many such cases. But there was no precedent for a separate political statement.”
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have been extremely high since Russia forcibly annexed Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014 and began providing active political and military support to separatists fighting the government in eastern Ukraine.
In November 2016, the lead prosecutor for the International Criminal Court issued a finding that the conflict "is equivalent to an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation."
Russia is one of five veto-wielding permanent Security Council members.