Citing time constraints, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has decided to give up personally posting messages on his social media accounts. From this point on, his private messages will be erased and official messages will be provided by his staff. Poroshenko made the announcement on Facebook, although it is not clear if he is talking about additional accounts as well.
Poroshenko says he may still occasionally write personal posts, and will preface them with his initials, PP.
More on Ukraine's gas debt from our news desk:
Russia's state-controlled Gazprom company says Ukraine's gas bill has risen another $838 million, after Kyiv failed to pay for deliveries during the first half of June.
Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller said on July 8 that Ukraine's overall gas debt has now reached almost $5.3 billion.
Miller said that Ukraine's "unwillingness in principle" to pay for Russian gas showed that the transition to a prepayment system was the "only correct decision."
The new bill is calculated on a price of $485 per 1,000 cubic meters that came into effect in April.
Ukraine says it will pay the debt if the price is $326 per 1,000 cubic meters.
On June 16, Gazprom cut off gas supplies to Ukraine and said that in future, Kyiv would have to pay in advance for any new supplies of Russian gas.
The EU presided over a meeting today about international support to Ukraine. These were the conclusions:
* The high level coordination meeting has provided an important opportunity for the international donors' community to further demonstrate its support for Ukraine in this crucial transition period following the events of last February and to reiterate its full support for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.
* Donors and international organisations recognised the importance of the recently signed Association Agreement, including a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (AA/DCFTA), which constitutes the new basis for EU-Ukraine relations aiming at fostering political association and economic integration with the EU as well as the Association Agenda, as the instrument to prepare for and facilitate the entry into force of the Association Agreement.
* The Ukrainian government set out their plans for a central authority to oversee the implementation of the AA/DCFTA and to ensure effective donor coordination as well as coherence and sustainability of their reform agenda.
* The Ukrainian side presented its current needs in terms of financial and technical assistance, including urgent measures for the stabilisation process in the South-East of Ukraine. Such measures, in particular, would include:
strengthening the state border;
ensuring addressing the urgent needs of internally displaced persons;
elaboration of a special post-conflict rehabilitation programme for Donbas region;
establishment of a Guarantee Fund.
Video from our Ukrainian Service. Former Ukrainian presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko and several members of her Batkivshchyna political party arrived at a donor center in Kyiv today to donate blood for soldiers wounded in military operations against pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Interesting piece of energy news, more than tangentially related to Ukraine (The pipeline bypasses it).
Russia's state-controlled Gazprom energy company says that its subsidiary, Tsentrgaz, has won a tender to build the Serbian stretch of the South Stream pipeline.
The announcement came as Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss cooperation, including in the energy sector.
Vucic said after the talks that an agreement on the construction of the Serbian portion of South Stream will be signed in the coming days.
He said earlier that only technical issues remained to be resolved before a deal is signed.
South Stream aims to transport Russian natural gas via the Black Sea and the Balkans to Europe, bypassing Ukraine.
Vucic also announced that Putin will visit Belgrade by the end of 2014, and said the visit testifies to the good relations between Russia and Serbia.
Barring any major developments that ends today's live blogging.
Good morning, starting up the live blog again.
For some morning viewing, check out Simon Ostrovsky's latest video for VICE News.
"On July 5, the eastern Ukrainian town of Sloviansk was recaptured by the Ukrainian military, driving out pro-Russia rebels and ending their three-month occupation. VICE News correspondent Simon Ostrovsky travels back to Sloviansk and visits the cell in which he was held for days by those rebels in April. The city is in shambles and residents are struggling to find food and water despite a considerable humanitarian effort. The pro-Russia rebels have retreated to Donetsk, but the Ukrainian government is determined to pursue its anti-terror operation until there are no rebels left."