Malorossiya project is personal initiative of self-proclaimed republic's leader : Kremlin

The idea of the establishment of a new state Malorossiya is a personal initiative of Alexander Zakharchenko, Head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Russian president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

U.N. court denies request to act against Russia in Ukraine

The United Nations' International Court of Justice on Wednesday declined a request by Ukraine for the world body to effectively cut off Russian supplies of funding and weapons to the region, which has seen constant fighting between Kiev government forces and pro-Russian rebels for more than three years.

EU extends Russia sanctions to Jan 2017

The European Union on Friday ­formally extended damaging ­economic sanctions against ­Russia by six months due to a lack of progress in resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine: as winter closes in, UN warns 700,000 children at risk due to severely damaged heating systems

UN,  13 November 2015 – About 700,000 children in Donetsk and Luhansk in Eastern Ukraine are in danger of the potential failure of the heating systems during the winter months, said United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today adding that conflict in the region has heavily damaged the interlinked water, heating and electricity service.

Ukraine: UN reports uptick in internal displacement as country’s conflict grinds on

UN, 9 June 2015 – The number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ukraine has soared to over one million due to the ongoing conflict in the country’s eastern regions, the United Nations humanitarian office reported today.

Fighting Surges in Ukraine After Kiev Says Rebels Launch Assault

Fighting surged in east Ukraine on Wednesday as Kiev accused pro-Russian forces of launching a "large-scale" attack in breach of a tenuous ceasefire.

‘Persistent and grave’ human rights violations in eastern Ukraine (UN report)

UN, 1 June 2015 – Serious human rights violations and abuses persist in eastern Ukraine, including shelling, executions, arbitrary and illegal detentions, torture, ill-treatment, human trafficking and the lack of justice and accountability, as well as deprivation of economic and social rights, deeply affecting the 5 million people living in the conflict-affected areas, a new United Nations report said today.

Ukraine Needs US to Buy Arms on World Market

Ukraine has encountered difficulties purchasing defensive weapons from other countries without the United States licensing an onward export, US Assistance Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said during the hearing at the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.

Germany says peace plan for Ukraine 'damaged' not dead

Germany condemned the seizure of a strategic east Ukrainian town by pro-Russian rebels on Wednesday as a "massive violation" of a ceasefire, but said it was too early to call the broader Minsk peace plan dead or ratchet up sanctions against Moscow.

Europe, Russia talks on Ukraine agree to work on possible joint document

A tripartite meeting on the Ukraine crisis involving Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel ended here early Saturday with a commitment to working on a "possible joint document."

Russia ‘Holds Keys’ to End Ukraine Crisis, US State Department Says

Russia is responsible for resolving the conflict in Ukraine and ending the violence in the region, US Department of State spokesperson Jen Psaki said during a press briefing on Friday...

West slams leadership votes in east Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has not officially responded to the vote yet.

Pro-Russian separatists in the breakaway Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk went to the polls to choose leaders for their self-proclaimed republics, bringing the rebellion in the country's industrialized east to a climax in a move likely to exacerbate tensions between Russia and the West over the Ukraine crisis.

Alexander Zakharchenko, 38, a mining electrician-turned-rebel leader, on Monday won the election for leadership of the "Donetsk People's Republic (DPR)," the separatists' political and military stronghold in eastern Ukraine.

Russian FM statement on the implementation of the Minsk agreements on a settlement in Ukraine and elections in its southeastern regions

From the Official Website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (Statements and speeches):
 
Considering the ultimatum issued by Kiev and some Western capitals that elections not be held in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, it would be logical to remind the following.
In accordance with the Minsk agreements reached in September this year by representatives of the President of Ukraine and the self-defence forces of southeastern Ukraine with the mediation of Russia and the OSCE, these elections can be held between 19 October and 3 November of this year.

Ukraine: Ban deplores planned holding of November ‘elections’ by rebel groups

UN, 29 October 2014 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today deplored the planned holding by armed rebel groups in eastern Ukraine of their own “elections” on 2 November, calling the potential polls a “breach of the constitution and national law.”

“These ‘elections’ will seriously undermine the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum, which need to be urgently implemented in full,” Mr. Ban said in a statement issued by his spokesperson in New York.

G-7 Foreign Ministers' Joint Statement on Ukraine (U.S. State Department)

Office of the Spokesperson, New York City, September 25, 2014:

 

The text of the following statement was released by the Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and High Representative of the European Union:

Parties at Minsk Talks Agree on Memorandum Regulating Ukrainian Ceasefire Implementation (MINSK MEMORANDUM, 20.09.14)

Kiev authorities and pro-independence fighters in southeastern Ukraine have agreed on complete ceasefire, establishment of the buffer zone, withdrawal of heavy weapons away from the contact line on both sides, and deployment of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) monitoring mission.

Early Saturday morning parties at the talks in Minsk – Russia, Ukraine, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's republics and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) – aligned positions and formulated a memorandum of nine provisions that will regulate the implementation of a ceasefire agreement between Kiev and independence supporters in eastern Ukraine. Leonid Kuchma, former Ukrainian president representing the country at the talks, read out the provisions of the memorandum at the conclusion of the talks.

Already fragile ceasefire under strain in east Ukraine

Fighting flared near an airport in eastern Ukraine in breach of a fragile eight-day ceasefire as the prime minister accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of planning to destroy his country.
Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said only membership of NATO would enable Ukraine to defend itself from external aggression.

Poroshenko and militia leaders order to cease fire in Ukraine

The press service of the President of Ukraine said that Petro Poroshenko ordered the Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to cease fire starting from 18:00 local time (19:00 MSK), on September 5.

"Based on the appeal from Russian President Vladimir Putin to the leaders of illegal armed formations in the Donbass to cease fire, on the base of the protocol signed at the meeting of the trilateral contact group to implement the peace plan of the President of Ukraine, I herewith order the Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to cease fire starting from 18:00 on September 5," said Poroshenko.

Ukraine's troops retreat from vital airport. (NATO membership)

Ukraine's military has pulled its forces back from defending a vital airport in the east against what is decribed as a column of Russian tanks, as President Petro Poroshenko accused Moscow of "direct and open aggression".
The withdrawal from the civilian airport outside the city of Luhansk was the latest in a string of reverses for Ukrainian forces fighting pro-Russian separatists who Kiev says have the direct support of hundreds of Russian troops and armour.

An army statement on Monday said Ukrainian paratroopers were engaging a Russian tank battalion near the airport.

Statement by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the events in Ukraine

From the Official Website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (Statements and speeches):

"The centrality given to false claims of Russian aggression and incursions by our troops and armoured vehicles in discussions of the crisis in Ukraine raises a number of serious questions.
Why do those clamouring for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council consistently block our proposals for a comprehensive discussion of the origins of the Ukrainian tragedy and for collective action on a solution that serves the interests of all Ukrainian people, and instead treat Ukraine like a bargaining chip in unilateral geopolitical schemes?