U.S. says separatists 'harassing' Ukraine monitors to prevent reporting of violations:
The United States has accused Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine of a campaign of "violence and harassment" against international monitors aimed at preventing them from reporting truce violations.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said on June 22 that Washington was "deeply concerned" about the situation, describing the separatists as "Russian-led, Russian-funded, and Russian-trained."
Nauert said that on June 20 separatist forces fired at retreating Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) vehicles carrying monitors, and in April an American paramedic accompanying the monitors was killed when his truck hit an explosive.
"The incidents are part of a broader effort to keep the international community from seeing what is happening in eastern Ukraine," she said.
"We call on Russia to use its influence to end this campaign of intimidation and honor its commitment to allow free, full, and safe access to the OSCE monitors."
A new cease-fire between Ukrainian troops and the separatists is due to come into effect on June 23.
Previous truces in the conflict that has killed more than 10,000 people since April 2014 have broken down. (AFP, Reuters)
That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Thursday, June 22, 2017. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage. Thanks for reading and take care.
Russia: New U.S. Sanctions Threaten Bilateral Relations
WASHINGTON -- Russia's Foreign Мinistry slammed new U.S. sanctions that target mainly Russian people and companies linked to the Ukraine conflict, saying the move puts at "serious risk" the entire bilateral relationship.
The comments were released June 22 after Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by telephone with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
They were the latest in a series of increasingly angry comments by Russian officials about the sanctions, announced earlier this week.
"Such actions put at serious risk the entire system of Russian-American relations, which were going through a difficult period even without this," the ministry said.
The State Department had no immediate comment about the Lavrov-Tillerson phone call.
A day earlier, the ministry abruptly announced the cancellation of talks between Lavrov's deputy, Sergei Ryabkov, and a top U.S. State Department diplomat, Tom Shannon.
In that announcement, Ryabkov threatened unspecified retaliation for the newly announced sanctions.
EU Extends Sanctions Against Russia
By RFE/RL
BRUSSELS -- European Union leaders have agreed to extend the bloc's economic sanctions against Russia by six months until January 31.
The 28 EU heads of state and government made the decision on June 22 during a two-day summit in Brussels after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron gave a briefing on how the Russia-backed insurgents and Ukrainian forces fighting in eastern Ukraine are adhering to the conditions in the Minsk agreements.
The Minsk agreements were forged by the leaders of France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine in Minsk in 2015 in an effort to end the fighting.
The sanctions, which mainly target Russia's banking and financial sectors, were first imposed by Brussels in June and July 2014 as a response to Russian aggression in the eastern part of Ukraine and the invasion and later illegal annexation of Crimea.
The sanctions package has been renewed every six months since then.
The EU member states' ambassadors will officially prolong the sanctions either at the end of June or beginning of July.
Earlier this week, the EU rolled over its investment ban on Crimea by another year.
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council:
