Another item from our news desk:

EU Formally Extends Russia Sanctions Linked To Aggression Toward Ukraine

The European Union formally approved an extension of sanctions against 170 Russian officials and Russian-backed Ukrainian separatists as well as 44 entities for another six months until March 15, the EU headquarters in Brussels said in a statement on September 11 as reported by AP.

EU ambassadors on September 4 agreed to extend the measures, which include visa bans and asset freezes, and bans on doing business in Crimea.

The sanctions list was established after Russia seized control of Ukraine's Crimea region in March 2014 and has grown over the following years as Moscow has continued to back separatists in eastern Ukraine in a conflict that has killed more than 13,000 people since April 2014.

People on the sanctions list include the Russian ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the Russian Armed Forces, General Valery Gerasimov, and state TV presenter Dmitry Kiselyov. The entity list is dominated by Russia-backed battalions operating in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions and the Crimean Peninsula, as well as companies from Crimea.

Some measures could be eased or lifted, the EU has said, if Russia were to adhere to the so-called Minsk agreement that outlines a roadmap for achieving peace in Ukraine’s Donbas conflict.

Based on reporting by Rikard Jozwiak and AP

Here is today's map of the latest situation in the Donbas conflict zone according to the the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. (CLICK TO ENLARGE.)

A report from the YES meeting by RFE/RL's Kyiv correspondent Christopher Miller:

Zelenskiy 'Grateful' To Trump For Releasing $250 Million In Military Aid For Ukraine

KYIV -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for releasing a $250 million military assistance package that the White House had previously held for review.

The military aid is largely meant to train and equip Ukrainian forces as they fight against Russia-backed separatists in a war that has lasted more than five years, killed more than 13,000 people, and torn apart a large swath of eastern Ukraine.

"I am thankful, I am grateful to him," Zelenskiy said on September 13, a day after the White House dropped its resistance to the aid.

Speaking at the opening of the annual Yalta European Strategy (YES) meeting organized by Ukrainian tycoon Viktor Pinchuk in Kyiv, Zelenskiy said that he felt his relationship with the fellow former TV star-turned-President was "very good" and called the United States an "important strategic partner."

Last week, the White House said it would review the military aid package, apparently over corruption concerns and to ensure that it would be used to further American foreign policy interests.

But the announcement came after efforts by Trump's lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani, to get the new Ukrainian president and government to investigate alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and the work of former Vice President and Democratic candidate for president Joe Biden in Ukraine.

The aid review quickly sparked criticism from Republicans and Democrats in Congress, where there has been strong bipartisan support for Ukraine on the issue of fighting Russian aggression since the Kremlin annexed Crimea and fomented the war in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Zelenskiy said he was careful not to comment publicly on the military aid issue while it was under review, suggesting that doing so could interfere with the White House's decision.

"But now we can say we have very good relations with the U.S., because now we will get not only $250 million but [an additional] $140 million," he said, referring to reports that the U.S. State Department would also be moving forward with a separate $140 million aid package for Ukraine apart from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.

"When you are waiting for $250 million but then have the possibility to get $390 million, I like this sort of relationship," Zelenskiy added.

"The Ukrainian president also warned the West against lifting sanctions on Russia saying they are a tax needed "to maintain world order."

"A peace tax, if you will. And you know in the civilized world it's normal to pay taxes," he said.

Zelenskiy said he hoped to meet Trump at the White House soon.

"I’m sure we will have a meeting in the White House because I was invited," he said.

Trump extended an invitation to Zelenskiy several weeks ago but a date has not yet been set for the meeting.

The Ukrainian president said the countries' "diplomats are now agreeing on the final dates" and that it would happen before or after his visit to the United Nations General Assembly on September 23.

Another item from our news desk:

Kremlin Says It Does Not Rule Out New Prisoner Swap With Ukraine

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says Moscow is not ruling out a new prisoner swap with Ukraine following the recent one when 70 people held in both countries were released.

Talking to journalists in Moscow on September 13, Peskov said that the process might be drawn out.

"It will require the start of a new process, an exchange of opinions, and most likely will take an extended amount of time and work," Peskov said, adding that "nobody excludes, a priori, the possibility and expediency of such a process."

Peskov's statement came just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said at the opening of the annual Yalta European Strategy (YES) meeting in Kyiv that his government is working to prepare a new list of Ukrainian citizens held in Russia for a possible swap.

"We are now talking about the next stage after our political prisoners [were released from Russia]... I tell you sincerely, we are in the process of the preparation of other lists [of prisoners] and expect the next stage of the prisoner swap process," Zelenskiy said.

On September 7, Kyiv and Moscow exchanged a total of 70 prisoners in the first major prisoner swap between the two since 2017.

Relations between Moscow and Kyiv have been tense since 2014, when Russia took control of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and began backing separatists in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which has left more than 13,000 people dead.

Based on reporting by Interfax, TASS, RIA Novosti, UNIAN, and Ukrayinska Pravda

Latest from our news desk:

Volunteer Battalions Hand In Their Weapons In Eastern Ukraine

KYIV -- Three volunteer battalions that for years fought for Kyiv against Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine have handed over their weapons to law enforcement.

The Sheikh Mansur battalion, the battalion of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), and the 8th battalion of the Ukrainian Volunteer Army voluntarily surrendered their arms to the National Police in the Donetsk region on September 11, according to a police statement.

Photographs published by the National Police showed artillery shells, rocket-propelled grenades, boxes of bullets, and crates of explosives that were turned in.

National Police First Deputy Chairman Vyacheslav Abroskin oversaw the transfer along with members of the military and the country’s security services.

The battalions were among the last units comprised purely of volunteer soldiers fighting in the 5-year war that has killed more than 13,000 people. Most of Ukraine’s volunteer battalions were incorporated into military and police structures in 2014 and 2015.

The Ukrainian military, neglected for years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, was caught flat-footed when Russia sent soldiers to Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and backed separatists fighting Kyiv in eastern Ukraine in the spring of 2014. Kyiv relied heavily on volunteer fighters funded by powerful businessmen to slow the advance of the separatists.

As the Ukrainian military expanded its ranks, its forces fought alongside the volunteers. Many of the volunteers eventually enlisted in the military.

The Sheikh Mansur battalion, named after the Chechen military leader who led forces against Catherine the Great in the late 18th century, was comprised of Chechen fighters who opposed Moscow. Many of its members fought in one or both of Chechnya’s wars with Russia.

Right-wing nationalists filled out the ranks of the OUN battalion and the 8th battalion of the Ukrainian Volunteer Army.