Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said during the Munich Security Conference last Feb. 13 that the world is in a "new Cold War." Medvedev cited NATO's feelings towards Russia and said the comments in front of world diplomats like US Secretary of State John Kerry, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine took the embattled town of Debaltseve on Wednesday as government forces retreated, the Associated Press reported. The rebels hoisted a flag over the town in triumph and said they had taken hundreds of Kiev's soldiers captive.
Despite the ceasefire brokered at last week's top-level Minsk summit, fighting continued on Monday in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists exchanged what the news service called "intense" fire around the bitterly contested town of Debaltseve.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko, are set to meet with the leaders of Germany and France in Minsk on Wednesday.
Eleven people in Ukraine died as a bus was attacked Ukrainian, authorities said. Separatists have denied responsibility for the attacks. At the same time, the battle between separatist and government forces became even more deadly around Donetsk, which is home to an international airport.
An election in the separatist regions of Ukraine may shatter a fragile ceasefire between the rebel forces and Kiev. Backed by Russia, the separatist rebels held elections in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, but no country other than Russia recognized the election results.
The battlefront has been expanded by almost 80 miles to the south after rebel forces, with the alleged support of Russian troops and weaponry, captured the seaside town of Novoazovsk.
Poroshenko and Putin meet face-to-face for the first time since June Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko met Tuesday in Minsk, Belarus, for a summit with hopes that the international community will help bring peace between the two countries.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Moscow on Wednesday about the option to implement strict economic sanctions against Russia if the country refuses to back a peace plan announced by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko proposed a cease-fire Wednesday in an effort to end the violent clashes between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia militants that has been ongoing for more than two months.
Russia and Ukraine reached a stalemate Wednesday in talks over gas prices. Gas talks between Russia and Ukraine reached a stalemate Wednesday when Ukraine rejected Russia's gas price cut offer after a disagreement over European gas supplies.
Petro Poroshenko was sworn in as the new Ukrainian president on Saturday in Kiev. New Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko urged pro-Russian rebels to stand down in his inaugural address following his swearing in as president Saturday in Kiev.
