That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for May 20, 2015. Check back here tomorrow morning for more of our continuing coverage.
Good morning. We'll start the live blog today with this short report from our news desk on the upcoming Easter Partnership summit in Riga, where Ukraine will presumably figure prominently in discussions:
European Union leaders are gathering in the Latvian capital, Riga, on May 21 for a summit with their counterparts from six eastern countries.
The number one question at the two-day meeting will be how the 28-member EU should reconcile its Eastern Partnership Program -- involving Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine -- with its relations to Russia.
Their last meeting, held in Vilnius in 2013, triggered the current crisis in Ukraine, after the country's former president Viktor Yanukovych backed out of a deal on closer ties with the European Union.
Months later, violent protests forced Yanukovych out of office. Tensions flared up in the east of the country, where a pro-Russian insurgency took hold.
Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula, leading to widespread condemnation and Western sanctions as relations soured.
Russia will be watching this week's summit closely. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned the EU against taking steps that could harm Russian interests.
(AFP, dpa)
Here's an update from our news desk:
The Ukrainian parliament has voted to annul military cooperation with Russia.
The five intergovernmental agreements scrapped by the Verkhovna Rada on May 21 include one allowing Moscow to send forces across Ukraine to Moldova's breakaway Transdniester region.
The lawmakers also voted to terminate deals covering military intelligence cooperation and the mutual protection of classified information, basic Russian military transports across Ukrainian territory, and mutual arms purchases.
The move comes as eastern Ukraine continues to be embroiled in sporadic fighting between government forces and pro-Russian separatists despite a cease-fire agreement signed in Minsk in February.
More than 6,100 people have been killed in the conflict since April 2014.
Kyiv and the West accuse Russia of arming the rebels and sending troops there, charges Moscow denies.
(AFP, AP, Interfax, TASS)