Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
Pentagon Chief: U.S. Won't Let Russia 'Drag Us Back To The Past'
U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has said that the United States and its allies won't let Russia "drag us back to the past," as he accused Moscow of trying to re-create a Soviet-era sphere of influence.
Carter, speaking in Berlin on June 22 at the start of a European tour, said, "We do not seek a cold, let alone a hot, war with Russia. We do not seek to make Russia an enemy. But make no mistake: We will defend our allies, the rules-based international order, and the positive future it affords us all."
Russia's involvement in Ukraine has triggered a series of military moves by the NATO alliance, including the creation of a NATO rapid-response force.
Carter said the alliance would keep the door open to an improved relationship with Russia. But he said, "The United States will not let Russia drag us back to the past."
Carter is due to hold talks with the defense ministers of Germany, Netherlands, and Norway.
On June 23, he travels to Estonia’s capital, Tallinn, where he is scheduled to meet with the defense ministers of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
Based on reporting by Reuters and dpa
EU Extends Russia Sanctions
EU foreign ministers have approved the extension of economic sanctions on Russia over its involvement in Ukraine by six months until the end of January 2016.
The decision made at a meeting in Luxembourg comes after EU ambassadors on June 17 agreed to extend the sanctions hitting Russia's energy, financial, and military sector, and prolonged an investment ban on Crimea for another year.
The sanctions were imposed for one year in July 2014 in response to Russia’s annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March and its alleged support for pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.
In March, EU heads of government decided that the duration of the restrictive measures against Russia would be linked to the complete implementation of the Minsk cease-fire agreement.