Here's an update from our news desk:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said a European Union free trade agreement with Ukraine is not directed against Russia.
Merkel also told a German-Ukrainian economic conference in Berlin on October 23 that Germany wanted good economic ties with both Ukraine and Russia.
"In contrast, we want Ukraine to have good economic relations with the European Union, with Germany but at the same time also with Russia," she said.
The EU-Ukraine Association Agreement was signed last year. Backers regard the deal as crucial for anchoring Ukraine to the West, while Moscow views it as a challenge to Russian interests in its so-called near abroad.
Merkel also urged Ukraine to continue with its economic reforms and tackle corruption and roll back the influence of oligarchs. She said German businesses are ready to invest there if the right conditions are in place.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told the gathering that Ukraine has started to see some positive signs in its economy in recent months but added that the country needed Germany's help to implement its reforms.
Based on reporting by Reuters
Here is today's map of the combat zone from Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council.
The Venice Commission has approved a new version of Ukraine’s judicial reform, which is meant to reboot the system in the country, wrote Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko on Facebook.
“The Venice Commission has just now approved the recommendations on judicial reform and among other things gave Ukraine a possibility to reboot its judicial system by forming new courts and hiring judges,” he wrote.
Petrenko promised to provide more details later.
Ukraine sent two draft laws to the Commission -- one presidential and the other drafted by civic activists. The second document called for forming new courts and hiring new judges.