Calls for Kyiv to press forward with reforms:
French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have called on Ukraine to press ahead with economic reforms.
Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said on December 14 that the two leaders encouraged Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in a telephone call to "get the planned sweeping reforms under way."
"Only that way can the economy recover and the necessary international financial help be advanced," he said.
On December 13 in Kyiv, the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) first deputy managing director, David Lipton, said he was "impressed" by Ukraine's plans for reform to avoid bankruptcy and defaulting on its debts.
Ukraine's parliament last week approved the government's economic program of reforms aimed at securing billions of dollars in financial aid from the IMF and other lenders.
The program includes overhauling the tax system, raising energy tariffs, and privatizing state firms. (Reuters and AFP)
Barring any major developments, that ends the live blogging for today.
One of our Washington correspondents has more detail on the Ukraine aid bill:
WASHINGTON -- A bill authorizing lethal aid for Ukraine and new sanctions against Russia unanimously passed the U.S. Senate late on December 13, sending it to U.S. President Barack Obama to sign or veto the measure.
The White House had no immediate comment on the legislation.
The swift and unanimous passage of the bill could set up a battle between Congress and the president. While the president can waive most of the provisions, the bill is a more robust answer to Russia's aggression in Ukraine than the administration has undertaken thus far.
While the White House has declined to provide lethal aid to Ukraine, the bill authorizes -- but does not technically require -- $350 million of defense articles for Ukraine's military, including anti-tank and anti-armor weapons, ammunition and surveillance drones. According to the administration, the U.S. government has committed over $118 million in equipment and training for Ukraine's security forces.
More than 4,000 people have been killed in Ukraine since March, and the conflict has persisted despite a September 5 cease-fire.
The bill also authorizes sanctions against Russia's defense and energy industries, including the arms exporter Rosoboronexport. The president may waive them for national security reasons.
It also allows Obama to sanction Gazprom, the Russian state-controlled energy giant, if he determines that it is withholding gas from a NATO state or Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.
Identical texts of the bill passed the U.S. Senate and House on December 11, but because of a loan guarantee provision, the U.S. Senate had to vote on it again.
The legislation has been harshly criticized by Russian government officials. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the bill was another "manifestation of anti-Russian sentiments." He warned that Russia "will not be able to leave this without a response."
A provision granting major non-NATO ally status to Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine was removed from the bill.
The bill also authorizes $50 million for three years to address Ukraine's energy shortage. The bill grants an additional $10 million per year for Voice of America and RFE/RL to expand broadcasting in Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia to counter Russian "propaganda." $20 million per year for three years is allotted for Russian democracy and civil society organizations.
Russia is denying its plane nearly hit a passenger jet.
Russia's Defense Ministry has released a statement denying that one of its planes almost struck a passenger jet in midair.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a December 14 statement there is no basis to reports of a near catastrophe occurring.
Konashenkov said there was a Russian military plane over the Baltic Sea on December 12 but said the plane was never closer than 70 kilometers to the Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) plane.
SAS spokesman Knut Morten Johansen also said "the safety distance between aircraft hadn’t been exceeded," adding, "This incident has been blown out of proportion."
Sweden's Defense Ministry said on December 13 there had been a near collision between the SAS jet taking off from Copenhagen and a Russian plane.
The Swedish Defense Ministry said the Russian plane had turned off its transponders, which makes the plane undetectable to commercial radar.
Life satisfaction since 1991. Includes Ukraine.
Peter Pomerantsev in "The New York Times" on truth in Russia.
When I went to work as a TV producer in Moscow in the early 2000s, I would ask my peers which of the “selves” they grew up with was the “real” them. How did they locate the difference between truth and lies? “You just end up living in different realities,” they would tell me, “with multiple truths and different ‘yous.' ”