Here's a report from our news desk on some Ukraine-related saber-rattling over the Atlantic:
Britain scrambled Typhoon fighter jets to intercept two Russian bombers near British airspace over the Atlantic Ocean on November 19, the Ministry of Defense said.
"Typhoon aircraft went up from RAF Lossiemouth to intercept two Russian Tu-160 aircraft flying in Britain's area of interest in international airspace over the Atlantic [on November 19] and remained with them until they left the area," a ministry spokesman said on November 20.
Intercepts of Russian aircraft by NATO have increased in the past year amid heightened tensions between the West and Moscow over the Ukraine crisis.
In January, Britain summoned the Russian ambassador to explain a similar episode when Russian bombers flew over the English Channel, forcing British authorities to reroute civil aircraft.
(Reuters, Interfax)
Here's an update from our news desk:
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says the parliaments of all European Union member states have completed the process of ratifying the bloc's Association Agreement with Ukraine.
Poroshenko tweeted that, with the agreement's ratification by the Brussels regional parliament and a Belgian language commission on November 20, all 28 member states have now approved Ukraine's pact with the European Union.
He said in a second tweet that "[The] EU just informed us that all is ready to launch a free trade zone with Ukraine as of Jan. 1, 2016."
The EU is already Ukraine's biggest trading partner, with Kyiv conducting more than one-third of its trade with EU members.
Ukraine signed the political portion of the Association Agreement with Brussels in March 2014, and the economic section three months later.
In September 2014, the establishment of a Ukrainian-EU free-trade zone was postponed until December 31, 2015 after complaints from Russia.
EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said during a visit to Kyiv last week that the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) agreement will "send a powerful signal that the regulatory environment in Ukraine is modern and efficient."
The EU will gradually lift tariffs and other trade barriers as Ukraine meets conditions set forth in the DCFTA.
(TASS, BBC)
We are now closing the live blog for today. Until we resume again tomorrow morning, you can follow all out other Ukraine coverage here.