Tweeted by the country director of the UN Development Program:
Here's another item from our news desk:
Poroshenko Says He's Satisfied He Has 'Built Bridges' With Trump Administration
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he was satisfied he has established a dialogue with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration despite concerns in Kyiv that Trump might sacrifice ties with Ukraine in favor of a closer relationship with Russia.
Poroshenko told a meeting of Ukraine's top brass on February 22. that his conversations with Trump, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and Vice President Mike Pence have left him optimistic.
"At the moment, I am happy how we are building bridges, and how our dialogue is working out for the best with the U.S. administration," he said.
Poroshenko's reassurance over ties to Washington came as one of Kyiv's key European allies expressed concern over the failure of yet another attempt to halt the fighting in the east.
A new cease-fire agreement was supposed to go into effect on February 20, with Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists obliged to pull heavy weapons back from the front line.
"The truth is as follows: the cease-fire is not holding," German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said, adding that is "alarming."
"Those who say something on Saturday [February 18] and several days later don't keep their word are responsible for the failure of the negotiation process," Gabriel said.
Based on reporting by AFP and Interfax
Good morning. We'll start the live blog today by drawing your attention to an exclusive story that RFE/RL's Christopher Miller filed last night:
Who Is Paul Manafort's Man In Kyiv? An Interview With Konstantin Kilimnik
KYIV -- An elusive Ukrainian associate of Paul Manafort says he briefed the former campaign chairman for U.S. President Donald Trump on Ukraine during last year's presidential race.
The comments by Konstantin Kilimnik, in an exclusive interview with RFE/RL, add to the swirl of intrigue surrounding Manafort, a shadowy political operative who helped bring Viktor Yanukovych to the Ukrainian presidency and who is now under FBI investigation for allegedly communicating with Russian intelligence officials during the 2016 U.S. campaign.
Kilimnik, a dual Russian-Ukrainian citizen, himself studied at the Russian military's main university for languages, which has led to speculation that he has ties to Russian military intelligence.
In the February 22 interview, Kilimnik denied any ties to Russian intelligence. But he said that he and Manafort spoke during the 2016 election "every couple months."
"I was briefing him on Ukraine," he said.
Manafort was fired by the Trump campaign in August after news reports documented payments to him from Yanukovych’s pro-Russian political party.
Last month, the New York Times and other media reported that U.S. authorities were investigating Manafort and other Trump aides for allegedly communicating with Russian intelligence during the campaign.
Manafort did not respond to e-mails and a voicemail seeking comment from RFE/RL after the interview concluded. But shortly after those inquiries, Kilimnik called RFE/RL back and said he had been contacted directly by Manafort.
Kilimnik said that while he was speaking to Manafort "every couple months" about Ukraine, he wanted to clarify that he had not been formally advising him during the U.S. election campaign.
Since leaving the Trump campaign, Manafort has remained largely out of sight. Kilimnik said the last time he spoke to Manafort was “in recent weeks.”
Read the entire article here.
This ends our live blogging for February 22. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.