We are now closing the live blog for today. Until we resume again tomorrow morning, you can keep up with all our ongoing Ukraine news coverage here.
Kerry, Lavrov to meet in Qatar today:
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will hold talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Qatar to discuss Iran, Syria, and the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
The August 2 meeting will take place on the sidelines of Kerry's discussions with Gulf Arab foreign ministers, in which the U.S. secretary of state will try to ease Arab concerns about the nuclear deal agreed between world powers and Iran in July.
On the first leg of his Middle East tour, Kerry was in Cairo on August 1 to discuss the resumption of a U.S.-Egypt strategic dialogue that was suspended in 2009 amid political unrest in Egypt.
Aside from his talks with Kerry, Lavrov will meet with Qatari officials to discuss bilateral relations and international efforts to fight the Islamic State group. (AFP, Reuters)
Russia says tourism to Crimea has increased from last year by 16.5 percent: