We are now closing the live blog for today. Until we resume again tomorrow morning, you can keep up with all our other Ukraine coverage here.
The main news today:
The leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France will speak by phone December 30 about efforts to carry out a peace accord between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko conferred with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on December 29 "to coordinate positions" ahead of the conference call and discuss "the implementation status" of the peace deal forged in the Belarusian capital of Minsk in February, his office said.
Poroshenko's office charged that pro-Russian separatists "increasingly violate the truce and engage in provocations" in the Donbas conflict region, endangering the peace process.
German Foreign Minister Walter Steinmeier urged the two sides to respect a cease-fire during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
"The Minsk process will continue in 2016 and will hopefully be better than this year," said Oleksandr Turchynov, the head of Ukraine's Security and Defense Council.
And this from overnight:
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned that the cease-fire between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists is becoming more fragile.
"Even if the situation in eastern Ukraine has disappeared from the headlines, there is no reason to sit back... The cease-fire is increasingly fragile," he said.
Steinmeier condemned violations of the truce over the Christmas holiday and urged both sides to stick with their pledges to stop the war, at least temporarily.
Steinmeier pointed to progress in military de-escalation and the withdrawal of weapons by both sides, but said important questions remain to be resolved.
These included agreeing on a special law for local elections in parts of the east controlled by separatists and improving the humanitarian situation.
He called for the release of prisoners and hostages, a resumption of water supplies in the east, and the end of limits on the registration of aid organizations in the east.
"We must continue to work so that the local elections take place at the beginning of 2016 and the Minsk package of measures is completely implemented," he said.