Good morning. We'll get our live blog rolling today with this item from RFE/RL's news desk:
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are scheduled to meet on December 4 for talks expected to focus on the crisis in Ukraine.
The two will meet on the sidelines of a gathering in Basel, Switzerland, of top diplomats from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The OSCE has been tasked with monitoring a September 5 cease-fire in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russia separatists.
That truce, however, has been violated regularly especially in and around the international airport in the rebel-held city of Donetsk.
A fresh cease-fire for the airport alone came into force on December 2, a day after it was negotiated by Ukrainian and Russian military officials.
However, the Ukrainian military accused rebel forces of breaking that truce almost immediately.
Ukraine's National Security Council on December 3 claimed that the separatists suffered heavy losses after launching attacks on the airport.
(AFP, dpa)
This ends our live-blogging for December 3. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage of the crisis in Ukraine.