Meanwhile...
Big news overnight:
Ukraine has formally requested to purchase U.S. military equipment for the first time as the nation continues to battle Russia-backed separatist formations in parts of two eastern provinces.
Good morning!
We are now closing the live blog for today, but we'll be back again tomorrow morning to follow all the latest developments. Until then, you can keep up with all our other Ukraine coverage here.
An interesting Twitter thread:
Something to keep an eye on tomorrow: