Internal Security News

• The Ukrainian military accused the rebels of breaking the ceasefire 44 times since it began.
   
• Members of illegal armed groups in Ukraine's Donetsk region fired at military roadblocks before noon on June 25, injuring ten troops.
   
• (Interfax Ukraine) The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stated that members of illegal armed groups continue to kill Ukrainians amid Kyiv's efforts to implement the peace plan of President Petro Poroshenko to resolve the conflict in the country's eastern regions.
   
• The chairman of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic said that its representatives are ready for talks to settle the situation in east Ukraine.
   
• Less than 24 hours after a government helicopter was shot down in eastern Ukraine killing at least nine, Aleksandr Boroday, prime minister of self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, said it was not the insurgents who broke the short-lived truce in eastern Ukraine.
   
• (Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ordered leaders of the armed forces to open fire in response to attacks on Ukrainian troops by members of illegal armed groups, and said he doesn't rule out the early termination of the truce.
   
• Ukrainian government forces disarmed a group of people who broke into the grounds of the Dolyne Oil Refinery (Kirovohrad region).
   
• (Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian Defense Minister Koval said that Ukraine has lost 142 troops since the exacerbation of the situation in March 2014.
   
• There were reports of fighting overnight on June 24-25 near the Russian border in Luhansk region.
   

Diplomacy News

• (ITAR-TASS) Newly-appointed Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin spoke in favor of a dialogue with Russia on Crimea.
   
• Russian FM Lavrov stated that Russia is ready to hold consultations over association between the CIS members and the European Union, but if such agreements affect the free trade zone (FTZ) of the Commonwealth, Moscow will take protective measures.
   
• US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to publicly call on separatists in Ukraine to lay down their arms.
   
• Western leaders warned Russia of new sanctions after fighting flared up in eastern Ukraine despite a truce between the government and pro-Russian rebels. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Berlin that new sanctions could be applied if efforts to stabilize the situation were not speeded up.UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said inaction by Russia would mean a stronger case for sanctions.
   
• Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesman said that a number of bilateral meetings will take place on June 27 during a visit by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to Brussels, where Ukraine and the European Union are to sign the economic part of their association agreement.
   
• (ITAR-TASS) Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia, Francois Hollande of France and Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine, as well as Germany’s Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, held telephone talks during which they discussed the promotion of Poroshenko’s peace plan in the east of the country.
   
• Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called on his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to take concrete steps to stop the flow of arms and equipment to militants across the border with Ukraine.
   
• (ITAR-TASS) Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov said that attempts to deter and isolate Russia are absurd and go against fundamental European security interests.
   
• (Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian President Poroshenko said he is confident that the association agreement with the European Union can be successfully implemented.
   
• (RIA Novosti) NATO decided to extend its suspension of practical cooperation with Russia, because it sees “no change in Moscow’s behavior”.
   
• (RIA Novosti) The upper chamber of Russian parliament revoked the resolution authorizing the use of military force in Ukraine following the June 24 request of President Vladimir Putin.
   
• (Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian President Poroshenko said that he sees the decision made by the Russian Federation Council to withdraw the resolution as a consequence of the implementation of his peace plan for eastern Ukraine.
   
• (ITAR-TASS) Re-settlers from Ukraine will be paid one-time monetary allowances, Russian Vice-Premier Dmitry Kozak said.
   
• (RIA Novosti) Kyiv bears full responsibility for the crisis in southeastern Ukraine, and blaming Moscow for it is “knocking on the wrong door,” the speaker of the upper chamber of Russian parliament said Wednesday.
   
• (RIA Novosti) Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan said that Ukraine is ready to sign a package agreement with Gazprom based on proposals made by the European Commission.
   
• (RIA Novosti) Russia will continue to accept refugees from Ukraine and send humanitarian aid to the residents of southeastern Ukraine until the situation in the region is stabilized, the speaker of the Russian upper house of parliament said.
   
• (ITAR-TASS) Dutch FM Timmermans said that at the current stage, Russia is neither an enemy nor a partner, since other parties will usually rely on the partner’s words and actions.
   
• (ITAR-TASS) Russia’s parliamentary upper house speaker Valentina Matviyenko said that there is no question of “returning” Crimea to Ukraine, but this should not get in the way of normalizing relations with the neighboring state.
   

International Observation Missions

• OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Didier Burkhalter said that the OSCE would like to increase the number of its observers working in Ukraine.
   

Governance News

• (Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian President Poroshenko appointed Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko as Head of Kyiv City State Administration and charged him with combating corruption.
   
• (Interfax Ukraine) Poroshenko said that Ukrainian remains the only official language in Ukraine.
   

Constitutional Reform News

• (Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the draft changes to the Ukrainian Constitution dealing with the decentralization of power will be submitted to the parliament on June 26.

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