Ukraine moves step closer to visa-free travel in EU:
Negotiators for the European Parliament and European Union member states have reached a deal to allow Ukrainian citizens to enter Schengen zone countries without a visa.
Ukrainian citizens who have biometric passports will be able to enter for up to 90 days during any 180-day period, the parliament said in a statement on March 1. The entry is valid for business trips, tourism, or family stays.
Ukrainians have eagerly awaited the advent of visa-free travel after being stuck in a conflict with Russia-backed separatists in the east for three years. They see the visa deal as a symbol of closer ties to the EU.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Twitter hailed the move as a "formal, but important step on the road."
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said earlier this month that visa liberalization between the EU and Ukraine is expected to come into force this summer.
The deal still has to be endorsed by parliament as a whole and the EU states.
The 26 Schengen area countries are Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. (dpa, Interfax, TASS)
Askov asks for police to break up activist blockade of east:
Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov says he has requested permission for the police to break up an activist blockade of the country's transit routes with areas of the east held by separatists.
Ukrainian activists, including some members of parliament and many veterans of the conflict with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, have been blockading train routes to the east since late January.
The blockade has cut off critically needed coal imports from eastern Ukraine that run western Ukrainian power plants, causing power shortages and other harm to the national economy.
The disruptions prompted Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko recently to declare an emergency.
"A decision needs to be made," Avakov told a gathering of metals industry representatives in Kyiv, denouncing the blockade as having no positive result. "Let's give powers to the law enforcement agencies to fix the situation."
Meanwhile, separatists have threatened to stop supplying coal and to take over Ukrainian companies that do not pay a tax to their two self-proclaimed separatist republics.
The separatists have a set deadline of March 1 for companies to register with their so-called "tax authorities." (dpa, Interfax, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, and Ukrainian Channel 112)
We are now closing the live blog for today, but we'll be back again tomorrow morning to follow all the latest developments. Until then, you can keep up with all our other Ukraine coverage here.