French President Francois Hollande traveled to Moscow today, reportedly the first Western leader to travel there since the annexation of Crimea. But first, it appears, he spoke with Ukraine's president.
West, Russia must stop new "walls" from coming up, Hollande tells Putin. -- AFP
Hollande said at the start of his meeting today with Putin that he hoped the meeting would help "rid ourselves of the walls that divide us." -- AP
From Interfax:
A senior member of the parliament of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic on Saturday suggested that the contact group on eastern Ukraine meet on December 12 rather than on December 9 as announced earlier.
"I would like us to hold our next round of consultations in Minsk on Friday December 12," Denis Pushilin, deputy chairman of the Supreme Council, told Interfax.
From Interfax:
The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic is planning to bring out legislation that would "practically completely" replace Ukrainian laws, the head of the republic's parliament said on Saturday.
"At the moment we're getting ready to enact about 40 new laws. They will address issues of security, economics. In other words, we'll be practically completely abandoning Ukrainian laws because they're practically inapplicable," Andrei Purgin told reporters.
He added that efforts would be made to bring out the legislation as soon as possible.