Latest from our news desk:
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev says Kyiv must pay for natural gas deliveries that are being sent by Gazprom directly to pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
In a comment posted to his Facebook page on February 20, Medvedev said “existing contractual obligations” require that Ukraine pay for the shipments.
Gazprom started shipping gas directly to separatist-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine on February 19 after Medvedev ordered his Energy Ministry to work out a supply plan as “humanitarian aid.”
But Andriy Kobolev, the head of Ukraine’s state-run Naftogaz, said on February 19 that the shipments violate Ukraine’s contract with Gazprom and that Kyiv would not pay for the deliveries because Naftogaz cannot take in and control the process.
Gazprom chief Aleksei Miller says the shipments are passing through the Prokhorovka and Platovo gas metering stations on Russia's border with the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
Latest from the EU:
The European Union President Donald Tusk said on February 20 that he was consulting with EU leaders about new measures aimed at pressuring Russia and separatists in eastern Ukraine to fulfill their obligations under a fragilie new cease-fire agreement.
Tusk said there had been "more than 300 violations" of the latest Minsk cease-fire deal since it was meant to come into force on February 15.
Tusk said: "The European Union has been devoting all efforts to make the Minsk II Agreement work, even in the face of continued ruthless attacks on Debaltseve and other regions by the separatists militarily supported by Russia."
He warned that the EU is "clearly reaching a point when further diplomatic efforts will be fruitless unless credibly backed up by further action."
Tusk said he would confer with European leaders in the coming days and visit Kyiv on February 22.
Earlier on February 20, similar concerns were expressed in Paris by French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Interesting story in The Moscow Times:
KIEV/MOSCOW — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Friday that police evidence showed that a top Russian presidential aide, Vladislav Surkov, had directed "foreign sniper groups" who shot and killed protesters in Kiev a year ago.
"Just a few days ago, the head of state security told me that, in questioning, special forces operatives gave evidence that the Russian presidential aide Vladislav Surkov led the organization of groups of foreign snipers on the Maidan," Poroshenko said, according to his website.
Latest from Washington:
Washington says Russia's continued support for attacks by separatists agaisnt government forces in eastern Ukraine is a violation of a fresh cease-fire agreement reached in Minsk this month and "is undermining international diplomacy and multilateral institutions" that are "the foundations of our modern global order."
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki also said the United States is "particularly concerned about new attacks near Mariupol" on the coast of the Sea of Azov by Russian-backed separatists.
More from D.C.:
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has urged Secretary of State John Kerry to tighten sanctions against Russia and provide defensive military aid to Ukraine after rebels breached this month's cease-fire agreement and seized the Ukrainian town of Debaltseve.
The senators told Kerry in a letter that "it is time to provide defensive weapons to Ukraine and to consider imposing additional sanctions and penalties that will increase the cost of Putin’s actions, including the potential removal of Russia from the SWIFT financial system."
Among those signing the letter were top Democrat Dick Durbin and Armed Services Committee Republican Chairman John McCain.
U.S. President Barack Obama has not ruled out giving the Ukrainians defensive lethal aid.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on February 20 that military operations by Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine risk "increasing costs" for Russia.
Barring any major developments, that concludes the live blogging for today.
Good morning!
Led by a group of nationalist bikers, Moscow is hosting a rally to mark the one year anniversary of Ukraine's Euromaidan revolution -- an event that they call a Western-orchestrated "coup." Organizers have predicted that 10,000 people will turn out and early pictures do show large crowds congregating on Petrovka street in downtown Moscow.
Yesterday, some reports appeared on social media that protest-goers were being offered money to attend today's events, but there has not yet been definitive proof.
According to the BBC, former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled Kyiv last year, is expected to speak at today's rally.
A group wearing matching green jacket with the mug of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov carry a banner that some in the West might call homophobic.
"We don't need Western ideology and gay-parades!" it says.
The placard says, "A thief should sit in prison." It pictures Aleksei Navalny (bottom) and his associate Vladimir Ashurkov. Navalny is currently serving a 15-day jail sentence for distributing fliers for an unsanctioned March 1 protest. Ashurkov, the executive director of Navalny's anticorruption foundation, has asked for asylum in Britain after being charged with fraud by Russia's Investigative Committee. The charges are widely seen as politically motivated.