The four-side Geneva treaty on de-escalating tension in Ukraine has been adopted as a road map for resolving the crisis. Promising to adhere to the agreement, Kiev demands that anti-government protesters in eastern Ukraine must be the first to follow it.
15 May 2014
The anti-government protesters have gathered in front of the Ukrainian Parliament (Verkhovna Rada), demanding the resignation of coup-appointed President Aleksandr Turchinov from the position of the speaker.
The supporters of Ukraine presidential hopeful, Pyotr Poroshenko (UDAR Party), have attempted to attack the campaign headquarters of Yulia Timoshenko, another presidential candidate from the Batkivshchina (Fatherland) party, said a party official. He added that members of the local and city internal ministry tried to enter the HQ under “false pretenses” with the aim of hijacking the Batkivshchina party’s newspaper.
The number of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe observers will rise to 300 people in Ukraine, says the head of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan.
In two months, the number of the OSCE observers will increase up to 500, he told the Itar-Tass news agency.
13 May 2014
Russia’s investigative committee has started a preliminary investigation into the case of Ukrainian presidential candidate and leader of the Radical Party, Oleg Lyashko, who reportedly attempted to take two pupils from boarding school in the Crimean city of Yalta on "a holiday" in Turkey in July 2012. According to the committee, the children, 12 and 14 years old, who are now Russian citizens, might have been abused by the candidate.
China sees the direct cause of the Ukrainian political crisis in the armed coup that ousted the country’s legitimate government, China’s Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping told Russian media. The diplomat added that Western countries “played a negative part” in those events and is now using double standards towards the developing crisis.
“Since Ukraine declared independence it has been looking for ways to develop according to its national characteristics. But at the same time foreign influence, first of all that of the US and Western countries, which are trying to make Ukraine follow the path towards Western-style democracy, cannot be ignored,” The Chinese official noted.
The future of Ukraine’s political system should be discussed before the May 25 presidential election, Moscow believes. Russia expects the OSCE, the EU and the US to put leverage on Kiev to start discussion of this issue soon, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry added that “the unwillingness of the current Kiev authorities to start a real dialogue with representatives of regions, first of all in south and east, is a major stumbling block on the path to de-escalation and promoting civil reconciliation in Ukraine.”
10 May 2014
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide Ukraine with loan guarantees of up to $1 billion. The notification containing the conditions for granting the guarantees will be published in the US Federal Register on Monday. The guarantees came into force on May 9.
07 May 2014
The deaths of protesters in Odessa last Friday were a terrorist act, said Ukrainian MP and presidential candidate Petr Poroshenko. He told during a closed-door parliament session on Tuesday said MPs had been presented with proof that the people who died in the Trade Union House torched by radical pro-Kiev activists were killed by a toxic gas. He didn’t identify the gas used, however.
The majority of victims of large fires die not from the fire itself but rather due to inhaling toxic smoke, and it was generally thought that this was the case for those found dead in Odessa. But after the scale of the tragedy became clear, claims that colored smoke was seen in the building during the fire started to emerge on social media networks.
Previously, some Ukrainian officials claimed that the fire was caused by the anti-government protesters in the building, who allegedly mishandled their own Molotov cocktails. Yet video footage from the scene showed the crowd surrounding the building throwing Molotov cocktails at those inside.
The latest version of the events in Odessa voiced by the Ukrainian investigation puts the blame on the city’s police force, which failed to prevent or were accomplices to the clashes.
06 May 2014
Odessa hospitals are treating 78 people injured in the deadly clashes and fire on May 2, the city council said. Twenty-six of them are in serious condition and 17 are being treated in intensive therapy units.
The official count said 46 people were killed and more than 200 were injured Friday during violent clashes between radical pro-Kiev activists and anti-government protesters in Odessa.
05 May 2014
More than 7,000 Muscovites gathered at a war memorial at the Kremlin wall, in the heart of Moscow, to pay tribute to the Ukrainian men and women who fought against Nazism and to honor the victims of the Odessa tragedy.
Organized by Russia's Women's Union, participants also asked Ukrainian authorities to stop the bloodshed in the east of the country.
“Today, we have to demand the government in Kiev stops killing people,” Maria Bolshakova, a representative of the union, said.
A minute of silence was held at the Kremlin wall to honor the memory of victims in Odessa, Kramatorsk, and Slavyansk. Muscovites held flags depicting large St. George's Ribbons. At the end of the event, a flower reef was laid next to a "Hero city of Odessa" memorial in Alexandrovsky Garden.
Kiev has sent extra troops to Odessa in the wake of deadly clashes, which left dozens of people dead in a building torched by radical pro-Kiev activists. The troops come from the National Guard unit Kiev-1, acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said.
Previously the minister blamed Odessa law enforcement for the violence on Friday and the subsequent failure to transport arrested anti-government protesters out of the city, as well as the release of more than 60 of them on the demands of an angry crowd.
A Ukrainian cabinet decision has seen 27 checkpoints on the borders with Crimea and the city of Sevastopol closed, according to a statement published on the official website of the Ukrainian government.
“Due to the escalating situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (ARC), the invasion of armed troops on Ukraine territory, military aggression from the Russian Federation, blocking the checkpoints located in ARC is in accordance with the law on ‘ensuring rights and freedoms of civilians on temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory’,” said in the statement.
Among the checkpoints which are closed are those in the cities of Sevastopol, Yalta, Kerch and Yevpatoria.
The Council of Europe should impartially examine the crimes in Ukraine, said the Russian Interior Ministry.
According to the ministry, the Council of Europe should help the Ukrainian authorities to implement constitutional reform in the country. The International Advisory Group should also take part in the process, adds the ministry.
“Kiev policy which restricts freedom of media and freedom of movement between Russia and Ukraine contradicts the norms and principles of the Council of Europe, it [the policy] should be immediately stopped,” said the ministry, “ The relevant authorities of the Council should evaluate it [the policy].”
02 May 2014
Moscow considers the bloody events in Odessa a “tragedy,” and is holding Kiev authorities accountable for their “criminal irresponsibility,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine’s southern city of Odessa witnessed mass violence late on Friday as the city’s Trade Unions House was set on fire by pro-Kiev radicals in response to an anti-government rally in front of the building. At least 38 anti-government activists died in the fire, while 50 others – including police officers – were seriously injured.
01 May 2014
Moscow believes plans for a nationwide poll on decentralization of power scheduled for May 25, announced by interim Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk, are cynical and detached from reality, according to a statement by Russia’s Foreign Ministry.
“Does Kiev really believe that in the days remaining until May 25, 2014, it is possible to have all of Ukrainian society in all of the regions involved in a serious discussion on the most important issues of the national form of government? These statements are especially cynical as they appear during the ongoing military operation carried out by Kiev against its own people,” the Ministry’s statement reads.
30 April 2014
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has discussed the events in Ukraine with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, urging all sides to stick to the Geneva deal on de-escalating the crisis in the country, the Kremlin’s press-service said.
China opposes unilateral sanctions against Russia by the US and its European allies, Li Hui, Chinese Ambassador to Russia said.
“We object to unilateral sanctions and we believe that they will not settle emerging problems,” the ambassador is cited as saying by ITAR-TASS news agency.
He also stressed that Chinese-Russian economic co-operation remains extremely important for Beijing.
The world’s leading industrial powers would stand united on further sanctions against Russia if required, Germany’s Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said after talks in Berlin, Reuters reports.
The European Union is ready to provide economic aid to Ukraine in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said on Wednesday.
"Of course we need a fully fledged agreement with the IMF but the European Union is ready for macro-financial aid in the framework of the overall package. So we are ready to support Ukraine," he told reporters after meeting in Prague with Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka. (Reuters)
29 April 2014
Gennady Kernes, the mayor of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkov, is in a stable condition in an Israeli clinic after sustaining an injury during Monday’s gun attack, Israeli medics reported.
"He is stable. That is all we can say right now," a staff member at Elisha Hospital in Haifa, north Israel, told Reuters.
28 April 2014
The agreement reached recently in Geneva contains no points on legally preventing Russian armed forces from operating on home soil, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reminded today.
Kiev’s Inter TV channel was attacked by nationalist activists, who accused the media outlet of being pro-Russian, said local news website Obozrevatel, who had a reporter at the scene.
The activists gathered in front of the channel’s lobby and started chanting “Inter is f****r!” to the tune of a popular, if obscene, football ultras chant. They then pelted the building with firecrackers and smoke sticks. They also broke some glass in the lobby.
The attackers fled before police arrived, the report says. Nobody was injured in the incident.
Obozrevatel accuses the nationalist Bratstvo (Brotherhood) organization of staging the attack, saying its leader, Dmitry Korchinsky, announced the action beforehand on his Facebook page. He later posted an update which said, “Inter management failed to talk to the public, which was asking them to stop poisoning the people’s minds with Moskal [Russian] TV series. That’s why the public broke windows and doors and changed channels.”
Presidential candidate Mikhail Dobkin was prevented from campaigning in the city of Kherson by a group of activists, who took over the airport building before his arrival and tried to force their way inside his plane, local media reported, citing the activists.
“The people were so glad to welcome him that they gathered at the airport at 8:00am, taking eggs, green paint, flour and other surprises,” activist Maksim Magda reported online. “There were about 150 people – local activists, the [Maidan] self-defense, the Avtomaidan, the Right Sector and everyone concerned.”
The report says that Dobkin, who was victim of a similar flour and paint attack in Kiev two weeks ago, didn’t get off the plane and flew instead to Kharkov. The projectiles the activists had with them were used on the welcoming delegation headed by former Kherson Governor Nikolay Kostyak.
A journalist covering the derailed visit for a local media outlet was doused with green paint in the incident, her employer complained.
Britain is to host an international forum on Tuesday and Wednesday dedicated to the search of assets allegedly embezzled by members of the Ukrainian government under President Viktor Yanukovich.
Officials from more than 20 countries are to participate in the Ukraine Forum on Asset Recovery (UFAR), including four members of the British cabinet, US Attorney General Eric Holder and Ukraine’s acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov.
NATO's Information Bureau in Moscow may soon be shutdown over NATO's suspension of cooperation with Russia due to the Ukrainian crisis, Kommersant reports, citing sources within the government.
According to a source in the Presidential administration, the decision to shut the Alliance's office has not yet been taken, but “everything is leading up to this.”
"It is an arising countermeasure as in present realities it is impossible to find a common language with NATO," the source told the publication.
NATO's Information Bureau in Moscow was opened in 2001 and is housed within the Belgian embassy in the Russian capital. Sources inside the bureau claim that they have not been notified by the authorities to halt their activity.
27 April 2014
Ukrainian presidential candidate Pyotr Poroshenko (UDAR Party), said he is determined to push for Ukraine’s integration into the EU following the presidential election on May 25.
"In the near future, right after the election, we will begin negotiations on granting EU membership to Ukraine,” he said as quoted by Interfax. ”I am very determined. Ukraine will be part of the EU, I promise you that.”
He also stated that Ukraine will be able to give up using Russian gas by 2015.
“Ukraine has all the capabilities to extract gas [on its own territory], including shale gas,” he said while meeting the locals in the city of Berezhany in western Ukraine. “There is an agreement on the supply of reverse gas from Slovakia from October. The EU is to help Ukraine deliver the reverse gas."
A new round of sanctions against Russia would be a continuation of existing travel bans and asset freezes, Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague told Sky News on Sunday.
Although Hague has said that diplomatic channels will be kept open in case a resolution to the crisis is in sight, he also said that Britain and the United States continue to work on measures “against individuals or entities in Russia”, adding that “it would be a price worth paying if this situation continues to deteriorate” and that the measures will be calculated “in a way that has the maximum effect on the Russian economy and the minimum effect on our own economy and the European Union’s.”
The head of one of the biggest German engineering companies, Siemens, says the company will adhere to EU moves to impose sanctions on Russia over Ukraine.
“The priority of politics will apply in this case. We will abide by this and we will consistently implement these things [sanctions],” Joe Kaeser told Germany's Frankfurter Allgemaine Zeitung, failing to mention the potential consequences of such a move.
According to the publication, Siemens conducts $2 billion worth of business in Russia and provides around 3,000 jobs inside the country.
26 April 2014
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to discuss the steps necessary for de-escalation of the Ukrainian crisis, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The G7 group have agreed they are ready to move forward and impose further sanctions on Russia blaming it for fueling tensions in Ukraine. Although there are no specific details about the time or targets of the sanctions as well as their scale, a number of anonymous sources were telling the media that new sanctions may come as early as Monday.
“We have now agreed that we will move swiftly to impose additional sanctions on Russia,” a joint statement read, adding “we have committed to act urgently to intensify targeted sanctions and measures to increase the costs of Russia's actions.”
25 April 2014
The Pentagon has accused Moscow of repeatedly violating Ukraine’s airspace in the last 24 hours, Reuters reports.
"I can confirm that on several occasions in the last 24 hours, Russian aircraft have entered Ukrainian airspace," a Pentagon spokesman, Colonel Steve Warren, said.
The spokesman provided no further details of when and where the violations took place. Last month following a referendum, the former Ukrainian region of Crimea was accepted into Russian Federation in a move that has not yet been officially recognized by the US.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron has claimed that Russia is “refusing” to support the April-17 Geneva agreements on the de-escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.
Cameron’s spokesman was quoted by Reuters as saying that the UK Prime Minister, US President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Friday agreed on additional sanctions against Russia during a conference call.
“While they continued to hold open the door to a diplomatic resolution of this crisis, based on the Geneva agreement, the five leaders agreed that in the light of Russia's refusal to support the process, an extension of the current targeted sanctions would need to be implemented, in conjunction with other G7 leaders and with European partners,” Cameron’s spokesman said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has dismissed as “not serious” reports of Russian agents captured in Ukraine. He accused US politicians of distorting facts and wrongfully interpreting the Geneva agreement on de-escalation.
Correspondents from Russia’s LifeNews media outlet have been attacked by an armed group and kidnapped while they were filming an interview with an anti-government leader. The crew, which says it was then held by the operatives of the Security Service of Ukraine, has already been deported to Russia.
24 April 2014
There are no Russian troops in the Donetsk Region, one of the leaders of the recently self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin, told ITAR-TASS.
"There are none of them [Russian troops] here and probably there are some reasons for this. Although it would be easier with them as they would speed up holding of a referendum and would ensure it to be within legal field," Pushilin said.
Meanwhile pictures presented by Washington and Kiev as evidence of Russia's involvement in Ukraine appear not really to prove anything, as some of them have been attributed the wrong location. Several shots put forward as ‘proof’ were labeled as having been taken in Russia, when in fact they were all taken in Ukraine.
The error was pointed out by the photographer, conceded by the US State Department and then, by the New York Times, which had made the pictures public.
RT’s Anastasia Churkina has the details in her report.
23 April 2014
The far-right extremist Right Sector group has relocated its HQ from Kiev to the southeastern city Dnepropetrovsk, said it’s nationalist leader Dmitry Yarosh who has been put on the international wanted list by Russia. According to him, it’s easier to monitor the situation in eastern Ukraine from Dnepropetrovsk.
Yarosh also denies using tycoon's funding “in politics.” However “when there is ongoing war we are not against them funding the army,” he noted.
The actions of law enforcement agencies during the government crackdown on EuroMaidan protests in Kiev on November 30 have been reviewed by a provisional investigative commission of the Ukrainian parliament. The results of the investigation say that the commission qualified them as "a creation of an organized criminal group, which was headed by former Interior Minister Vitaly Zakharchenko."
The Interior Ministry’s leadership as well as the head of the Kiev Berkut special forces were accused of criminal actions. The results of the investigation were handed to the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Around 60 percent of Ukrainians are in favor of friendly relations with Russia, according to a survey, conducted by Ukrainian pollsters Razumkov Center and the Rating Sociological Group, UNIAN reports.
More than 70 percent of Ukrainians, according to the poll, want to live in a unified state, while around 18 percent want it to be federal. Others have not yet made up their minds.
Around 60 percent of those questioned have spoken in favor of Ukraine joining the EU, while only one-third of respondents believe the country should seek NATO membership.
Russia’s Foreign Minister, in an interview with RT’s Sophie Shevardnadze, accused the US of trying to manipulate the situation in Ukraine.
“There is no reason not to believe that the Americans are running the show,” said Lavrov, referencing US Vice-President Joe Biden’s visit to Kiev and its coincidence with the renewed ‘counter-terror’ operation on activists in eastern Ukraine.
“It’s quite telling they chose the moment of the vice president of the US’ visit to announce the resumption of this operation, because the launching of this operation happened immediately after [head of the CIA] John Brennan’s visit to Kiev,” said Lavrov.
‘No reason not to believe Americans are running the show’ – Mr. Lavrov on who controls Kiev, full interview 16:30 GMT pic.twitter.com/pYGKs0Lpbc
— SophieCo (@SophieCo_RT) April 23, 2014
Ukraine's government said Wednesday that the United States had promised to stand by it in the face of aggression, Reuters reports, referring to a comment on US Vice-President Joe Biden’s visit to Ukraine made by First Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Yarema.
"We have obtained the support of the United States that they will not leave us alone with an aggressor. We hope that in the event of Russian aggression, this help will be more substantive," Yarema said.
Members of the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada have not reached agreement concerning the amnesty of the participants of the recent protests in eastern Ukraine, said Batkivshchina (Fatherland) Party official Sergey Sobolev.
“I can’t say why the Party of Regions and the Communist Party refused to vote on the draft law,” he told journalists adding that there is no alternative draft to the amnesty law in the parliament.
According to Sobolev, this law is the same as the amnesty law applied to Maidan protesters.
French frigate Dupleix is expected to enter the Black Sea April 26-27, a military-diplomatic source told Itar-Tass. It was earlier announced the vessel would be there on April 14.
Once Dupleix arrives, the Black Sea will host three NATO vessels. The two others are French surveillance ship Dupuy de Lôme, which is expected to leave for the Mediterranean on April 30 and American frigate USS Taylor, which entered the Black Sea on April 22.
Authorities in the Donetsk Region have called on Kiev to sign an interim constitutional agreement to ease the current tension between the country’s east and west, says the temporary official website of the Donetsk Region.
“Dialogue is hampered by the fact that local reforms are impossible without making amendments to the Ukrainian Constitution, which is a long process,” the statement reads. “Currently the best solution is signing a temporary constitutional agreement, which would include issues like regional powers, elections of governors and the status of the Russian language.”
The statement says polls show the majority of residents want the Donetsk Region to be “an independent part of the united politically stable country and are waiting for real concessions from Kiev.”
22 April 2014
The President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz warned sanctions against Russia will have serious economic and political reciprocation for EU states.
“In case of sanctions against Russia, we should prepare citizens of EU states to the fact that such measures will have certain influence on our economy: European energy tariffs will grow and European investment will be blocked in Russia,” Schulz said in an interview published by Le Parisien on Tuesday.
Pope Francis will receive the prime minister of the Ukraine coup-imposed government, Arseny Yatsenuyk, in the Vatican on April 26.
The meeting will follow repeated calls from the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church to resolve the crisis in Ukraine, Il Sismografo, the Vatican’s official blog, reports.
The US has offered Ukraine $50 million in aid, which would help its government with economic and political reform, said the office of US Vice-President Joe Biden during his visit to Kiev. Washington also offered $8 million in non-lethal military aid, including radios and vehicles.
Earlier the US offered a guarantee on loans given to Ukraine in the amount of $1 billion.
The sums are a far cry from what Ukraine needs to stabilize its economy. Kiev earlier estimated that it would need as much as $50 billion to avoid a serious crisis.
The warship USS Taylor, criticized by Russia for overstaying in the Black Sea in what Moscow called a violation of the Montreux Convention, has passed through the Dardanelles Strait on Tuesday, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
The ship was present in the Black Sea during the Olympic Games in Sochi and was supposed to leave no later than after 21 days after entering those waters, according to the international treaty regulating the presence of naval forces in the region.
However the vessel ran aground last month and had to be repaired in Samsun, Turkey, local authorities said. They were responding to appeal from Russia to Turkey to play its part in enforcing the Montreux Convention. Turkey has control over the Dardanelles Strait and can allow or refuse passage to warships.
The US is ready to help Ukraine to improve its economy, US Vice-President Joe Biden told the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. He added that Washington will provide assistance in the country’s presidential elections on May 25.
According to Biden, the upcoming elections will be the most important in the history of the country.
Ukraine may not energy security, but it would take time, he added.
Meanwhile, Bided stated that Ukrainian authorities should fight “the cancer of corruption.”
According to Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary of State for Europe, the US authorities have invested at least $5 billion in Ukraine since 1991 “on supporting the aspirations of the Ukrainian people.”
Victoria Nuland, the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs, has acknowledged that Washington has “invested” $5 billion in Ukraine since 1991.
“That money has been spent on supporting the aspirations of the Ukrainian people to have a strong, democratic government that represents their interests,” she told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview.
“But we certainly didn’t spend any money supporting the Maidan. That was a spontaneous movement, which is a far cry from what we are concerned Russia is up to now in eastern Ukraine.”
In an interview with Amanpour last week, Vyacheslav Nikonov, a Russian Duma MP, accused Nuland of orchestrating the regime change in Kiev in February.
“Victoria Nuland said about five billion US dollars [was] spent to promote democracy in Ukraine, which is oftentimes a code word for regime change,” Nikonov said.
21 April 2014
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in a telephone conversation with German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, "underlined the need for the strict and comprehensive fulfillment of the points of the Geneva declaration by the authorities in Kiev," the Russian Foreign Ministry statement said.
Lavrov also stressed the need for the “renunciation of violence and the launch of a broad national dialogue in the process of constitutional reform.”
In a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov once again highlighted Kiev's failure to curb the violence of the ultra-nationalist Right Sector party.
“Lavrov emphasized the inability and unwillingness of the Kiev authorities to put an end to violent acts of the Right Sector and other ultra-nationalists,” a statement from the Foreign Ministry reads. Lavrov also stated that this puts the implementation of provisions of the April 17 Geneva accord at risk.
The Russian diplomat urged his US counterpart “to influence Kiev and not to allow hotheads to provoke the bloody conflict.”
Russia also stressed the need of a national dialogue in Ukraine, including constitutional reform with the full participation of all main political forces and all regions of the country.
For his part, Kerry called on Russia to “take concrete steps to help implement the Geneva agreement, including publicly calling on separatists to vacate illegal buildings and checkpoints, accept amnesty and address their grievances politically,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said at a daily briefing.
Kerry also explained to Lavrov that there is a need for Russia to assign “a senior diplomat to work with the OSCE mission in eastern Ukraine to make absolutely clear to the separatists that Russia supports the agreement and wants de-escalation.”
The US would have preferred not to implement additional sanctions against Russia, according to key foreign policy and strategic communications adviser to the US President, Ben Rhodes. He told Itar-Tass that the White House would rather they had not been necessary. Rhodes added that the US wanted to see a de-escalation of the current situation in Ukraine. Rhodes made the comments during a briefing of foreign journalists in Washington.
US Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet with Ukraine's coup-installed President Aleksandr Turchinov and Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk during his visit to Ukraine’s capital, the White House announced. Biden’s visit to Kiev will begin on Monday afternoon and will last two days. He will also meet with members of Ukraine’s parliament from various regions and representatives of non-government organizations.
During the meetings, the two sides will "discuss the international community's efforts to help stabilize and strengthen Ukraine's economy and to assist Ukraine in moving forward on constitutional reform, decentralization, anti-corruption efforts, and free and fair presidential elections on May 25," the White House statement said. "The vice president will also consult on the latest developments in eastern Ukraine and on steps to enhance Ukraine's short- and long-term energy security."
20 April 2014
On Sunday, the Interior Ministry called on former members of the Berkut riot police, which had been branded as thugs and criminals by the new authorities, to return to service.
“We, the members of the board of Ukraine’s Interior Ministry, address the former members of Berkut. You always were the elite of the security forces,” said the statement of the ministry’s website. “On the eve of Orthodox Easter we urge everyone not indifferent to the fate of our country, to reconcile and unite, first of all by social consolidation and stopping the strife and mutual disrespect.”
The Berkut special forces units were dismissed on February 25 by the coup-installed Kiev regime.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called on the West to focus on preventing “further escalation” in Ukraine rather than on sanctions to target Russia, according to Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper, which is expected to publish the full interview on Sunday.
"I sometimes wish that the same engagement being used for the debate about sanctions would also exist when it comes to avoiding a further escalation," Steinmeier told the newspaper. "We've already exhaustively discussed the sanctions issue."
He also stressed that Germany supports the agreement reached in Geneva on the de-escalation of the conflict and vowed support to the OSCE mission in Ukraine.
“It was clear that peace in Ukraine would not be immediately restored after the agreement in Geneva. Now the most important is that the agreed measures are implemented,” he said.
In his Easter message, the head of Ukraine's Orthodox Church condemned the "aggression" in Ukraine.
"Against our peace-loving nation, which voluntarily gave up nuclear weapons, there has been aggression, there has been injustice," Patriarch Filaret said. "God cannot be on the side of evil, so the enemy of the Ukrainian people is condemned to defeat," he added. "Lord, help us resurrect Ukraine."
19 April 2014
Ukraine’s parliament will vote for constitutional changes before May, the country's coup-installed president, Aleksandr Turchinov, said on ‘Ukraine’ TV channel.The changes will include more power transferred to local regions. “I hope that before the end of May the parliament will be able to vote on constitutional changes regarding expanding powers of local governments in its first reading,” Turchinov said.
All of the Ukrainian Navy's vessels have left Crimea, the press service of Ukraine’s coup-imposed president, Aleksandr Turchinov, said.
“All the vessels of the Ukrainian Navy have departed from Sevastopol Bay and Donuzlav Bay [in Crimea], including the Kirovograd landing ship, Vinnitsa corvette, Zolotonosha base ship, and others,” the press service told Itar-Tass news agency.
The ships are on their way to the port of Odessa where the Ukrainian Navy's bases are situated.
The withdrawal of other Ukrainian military equipment from Crimea, including warplanes, is also underway, the press service added.
88.2 percent of voters in southeastern Ukraine are eager to participate in the country’s presidential elections on May 25, a survey by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) reveals.
Only 39.1 percent of the people are undecided about which candidate they will vote for, ZN.ua weekly reports.
According to the research, businessman Pyotr Poroshenko is currently leading the presidential race in southeastern Ukraine with 21.6 percent.
MP Sergey Tigipko follows him on 10.6 percent, and then former head of Kharkov regional state administration, Mikhail Dobkin, who has the support of 8.4 percent.
The survey took place April 10-15 and questioned 3,232 respondents in eight regions in southeastern Ukraine.
Negotiations between the police and anti-government protesters in the town of Gorlovka in Ukraine’s Donetsk Region “brought no result,” the local police told RIA-Novosti news agency.
The demonstrators in Gorlovka remain in control of the town’s administration building and the police headquarters.
Russia says it is prepared to help Ukraine resolve its political crisis in conjunction with the OSCE.
“The Russian side notes that Ukrainians must decide for themselves how to extricate themselves from the current political impasse, with the help of an OSCE monitoring mission. Russia is prepared to offer the broadest support in this venture,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin in a meeting with pro-Russian presidential candidate Oleg Tsarev.
Three thousand Crimean citizens have refused to receive Russian passports and become citizens, head of the Federal Migration Service, Konstantin Romodanovskiy, told Interfax.
According to the agreement that accompanied the absorption of Crimea into Russia, people were given a deadline until April 18, but the “small number” could either grow or diminish, Romodanovskiy continued, explaining that people are prone to changing their minds in situations like these. In this case, he said, it was possible to extend the deadline further.
Anti-Kiev protesters in Kramatorsk have once again captured the TV tower, as those who identify with Russia continue to face off against the Ukrainian military in the city. They have blocked the Ukrainian channels from being broadcast and switched over to Russian ones instead, RIA Novosti reports, citing the commander of the popular uprising. The pro-Russian group is dissatisfied with the way the country is being portrayed in the local programming, it claims.
More than 1.7 thousand tons in humanitarian aid from Russia’s regions have made their way to the Crimea, Emergencies Ministry representative, Aleksandr Drobyshenskiy told the press, according to Itar-Tass. The deliveries, which had started on March 14, came in the form of 32 convoys. Two more are being planned, according to Drobyshenskiy.
If Kiev doesn’t settle its gas debts with Moscow within a month, Gazprom will be forced to switch to a system of advance payments, President Putin has said, adding that the measure has nothing to do with May’s upcoming presidential election in Ukraine, RIA Novosti reports.
“Moscow is willing to tolerate” the continuing absence of payments for another month, Putin said during a live Q&A session on Thursday, adding that this is stipulated in the existing contracts.
“We don’t mix economics with the political process in Ukraine,” the President continued. “We were simply awaiting the receipt on April 7 of the money owed for the March for gas in March… this was $525 million. Not a cent… by the way, it was being transported at the lowest price, with all possible discounts.”
President Putin has appealed to all European nations interested in bolstering Ukraine’s economy to come up with feasible programs for the country’s budget, RIA Novosti reports. The President sent communications to European leaders last week regarding Ukraine’s gas debt, which Russia had eased by reducing prices and subsidizing it with $35.4 million as a result.
Unidentified men tried to break through a barricade at Kramatorsk’s city administration building in eastern Ukraine, RIA Novosti reported, quoting the ‘People’s mayor’ of the neighboring town of Slavyansk, Vyacheslav Ponomarev. Witnesses said up to 40 individuals approached the barricades and tried to dismantle them. Pro-federalization supporters called Slavyansk’s supporters for help and were able to maintain control of the city's administration building.
Witnesses also stated that the men trying to dismantle the barricade said they were promised a reward from Ukraine’s oligarchs for every barricade and building they recaptured from pro-federalization supporters in eastern Ukraine.
Sanctions that the EU is preparing to introduce against Russia will likely negatively impact some EU countries, Budget and Financial Programming Commissioner of the European Commission, Janusz Lewandowski, told Poland's TOK FM. Lewandowski stated that there are countries that depend on Russia entirely for their gas consumption – including Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Poland. Other EU countries will feel the effect through the banking sector or through a negative impact on trade.
Two Norwegian warships are now part of NATO’s defense force, the country’s Defense Ministry told NRK. The two vessels are responsible for patrolling the Baltic and North Sea and have been stationed there indefinitely. The move has been identified as a response to the latest developments in Ukraine.
The US administration wants to help Ukraine in its fight against corruption and repatriation of stolen assets, Itar-Tass reported, quoting National Security Council spokesperson Caitlin Hayden. To that end, the US sent a group of experts from the Treasury Department and the FBI to Ukraine. Their role is to consult the Ukrainian government on how to conduct an investigation and collect evidence.
Poland’s defense minister, Tomasz Siemoniak, said that an announcement will be made next week regarding sending US ground forces to Poland as part of a NATO expansion mission in eastern Europe, in response to the ongoing situation in Ukraine, The Washington Post reported.
The minister’s statement was denied by Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby, the BBC reported. Kirby said the US is continuing to look at various available options to ensure that NATO allies are certain of US commitment to collective security.
18 April 2014
Former Ukrainian prime minister and presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko said it is important to implement the agreements from the Geneva talks and start a direct dialogue with people in the eastern part of the country. Tymoshenko made her comments while appearing on ‘Ukraine’ TV channel, adding that she visited the Donetsk region and talked to people there.
Three Ukrainian national parties have reportedly been banned from the eastern town of Slavyansk, Ukraine’s Unian news agency reported, citing the town’s leader of the People's Militia, Vyacheslav Ponomare. The three parties consist of the Udar, Rodina, and Svoboda parties.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry have held a phone conversation and agreed to continue talks on the settlement of the Ukraine crisis.
The diplomats discussed possibilities for international assistance in the normalization of the situation in the country following yesterday’s four-party talks in Geneva, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Ukrainian authorities must implement the Geneva deal immediately and in full, including putting an end to violent actions and the launching of a national dialogue on constitutional reform, which is to include key regions and major political forces.
Russia’s “entire society may mobilize” in response to the West’s attempts to “corner” it over the country’s position on Ukraine, Kremlin press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, has said.
“Thank God, it’s impossible to corner Russia,” he said in an interview with Rossiya-1 channel, which followed Thursday’s annual Q&A with President Vladimir Putin.
Peskov is confident that Russia will not get isolated over the events in the former Soviet republic since “not all countries” support sanctions against Russia. “Not all states are ready to step back from the principles of pragmatism in foreign affairs and sustain economic losses,” he said.
Russia does have troops on the border with Ukraine - a country “which has just had a coup” - to provide for its security, Peskov said.
“Some of the troops are deployed on a permanent basis, others were sent as reinforcements,” he said. “It’s worth mentioning that Russia is a sovereign state and entitled to deploy its forces without any limitations at any spot on its territory.”
Europe understands there is no and will be no backtracking on Crimea, Vladimir Chizhov, Russian Ambassador to the EU has told the Rossiya-24 TV channel.
“Therefore, discussing the Crimea problem with us is rather a blind alley, and [Europeans] understand this,” he said. “At the same time, Crimea will certainly remain some kind of a thorn, a reason for those information wars to continue.”
The Russian diplomat also believes that a referendum on the federalization of Ukraine is “inevitable” and the first step towards it has already been taken.
“As of today, everyone including the signees of the Geneva document agree on the necessity of regionalization. The major point is not what the decision will called, but what it stands for,” Chizhov added.
The White House warned Russia on Friday that Moscow would face tougher sanctions if it failed to abide by a new international deal on Ukraine or moved to send Russian forces into eastern Ukraine.
"Those costs and sanctions could include targeting very significant sectors of the Russian economy," Susan Rice, President Barack Obama's national security adviser, told reporters. (Reuters)
Coup-imposed Ukrainian acting President Aleskandr Turchinov and Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk appeared in a televised address on Friday, calling for “national unity” and urging all to “refrain from violence.”
“The Ukrainian government is ready to carry out thorough constitutional reform, which will define the authority of the regions,” Yatsenuk said.
Local authorities in Ukrainian regions “will decide on their own” about whether to grant the Russian language or any other languages official status in the regions, Turchinov added.
Moscow doubts a free and fair presidential election campaign is possible in Ukraine while the presidential candidates are being attacked by armed thugs, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. On Monday, two opposition candidates, Mikhail Dobkin and Oleg Tsarev of the Party of Regions, were attacked by groups of aggressive men. Tsarev was beaten and treated for injuries but refused to withdraw from the May-25 election.
Ukrainian border guards have denied entry to approximately 600 Russian citizens who were traveling to the country. A day earlier Aeroflot warned its passengers that the company had received notification from Kiev that Ukraine will bar entry to Russian male citizens aged between 16 and 60. The same restrictions apply to all Ukrainian citizens registered in the Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, which both recently seceded from Ukraine and joined the Russian Federation.” The State Border Service of Ukraine confirmed to RIA Novosti that about 600 Russian citizens have been denied entry to Ukraine over the last 24 hours. This number includes all violators, including those who fit to the previously announced restrictions, yet the service has not specified the exact statistics.
Anti-government protesters in Ukraine’s Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region have recaptured the television tower and turned off Ukrainian TV channels, replacing them with Russian ones, such as Rossiya-24, Rossiya-1 and LifeNews, the local broadcasting company confirmed. Sometime earlier the regional office of the Security Service of Ukraine ordered all Russian TV channels to be taken off air.
Ukraine’s security service has put son of the ousted President Viktor Yanukovich on its ‘wanted’ list for alleged forgery and document falsification. The penalty for such crimes varies from two to five years in prison. Aleksandr Yanukovich is Ukrainian billionaire who reportedly attained his wealth during the years of his father’s presidency.
Ukraine’s prosecutor general has launched a criminal case against ousted President Viktor Yanukovich, who is charged with ‘creation of a terrorist organization’. Among other people named as members of this organization are former Interior Minister Aleksandr Yakimenko and former chief of the Security Service of Ukraine Vitaly Zakharchenko.
The prosecutor general maintains that the trio were in charge of terrorist organization consisting of security and law enforcement officers that is responsible for mass murder of protesters and police officers in downtown Kiev in February.
Charges have already been brought against Yanukovich. On February 25, the coup-imposed authorities in Kiev declared they would address international tribunal in The Hague to bring the former president to justice.
Later, the prosecutor general issued a criminal case against Yanukovich “for an attempt to overthrow constitutional order in Ukraine” after the former president held a press conference in Russia’s Rostov-on-Don on March 3.
Ukraine’s interim President Aleksandr Turchinov ordered round-the-clock bodyguards for six of the most prominent presidential candidates: Sergey Tigipko, Yulia Timoshenko, Pyotr Poroshenko, Oleg Lyashko, Mikhail Dobkin and Olga Bogomolets. Overall there are 23 presidential candidates and among them is Oleg Tsarev, a candidate who is extremely popular in eastern Ukraine and who was brutally beaten just three days ago by militants from the nationalist Right Sector group. However, Tsarev has not been put on the protection list. The presidential elections are set to take place on May 25.
More than 80 Russians have been refused entry to Ukraine over the last 24 hours, Interfax says, citing airlines with flights to Ukraine.
Ukrainian authorities announced unprecedented travel restrictions on Russian citizens on Thursday. All men aged between 16 and 60 traveling without families are now being denied entry to the country.
Many of those in eastern Ukraine are concerned at the decision, which might cut them off from relatives and friends in Russia, RT’s Maria Finoshina reports from the Donetsk International Airport.
A journalist of Russian Gazeta.ru news website was taken off a train from Moscow to Mariupol on the grounds that “the goal of her visit was not confirmed.” The online media outlet reports that the correspondent was also informed by the border patrol that they received an order not to allow journalists into Ukraine.
Several Russian companies are withdrawing their business from Ukrainian TV ads due to the unstable political situation and looming economic crisis, Russian newspaper Izvestiya reported, citing Media First Ukraine director Roman Shihutsko. Some of the companies that will no longer be investing into Ukrainian ads include Yandex, MTS, Alfa-Bank, and VTB.
Ukraine’s ban against the entrance of Russian males into Ukraine does not violate the principles of the OSCE, said OSCE’s director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Janez Lenarcic. Travel limitations can be used if they are “proportionate and badly needed,” the OSCE press office quoted him as saying.
Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier referred to the deal reached at the Geneva talks on Ukraine as an “important step” in regulating Ukraine’s crisis, according to the German Foreign Ministry. He added that there is once again a chance to avoid the break-up of Ukraine.
FM #Steinmeier on #Ukraine talks in #Geneva: An important step, but now comes the litmus test. Chances are back to avoid Ukraine's split.
— GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) April 17, 2014
Ukraine’s interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has called for a discussion around constitutional changes, focusing on the decentralization of state power before October 1, the Cabinet reported. The Regional Development Ministry was selected to coordinate the discussion.
British Prime Minister David Cameron promised to provide an extra $1.7 million for the OSCE's special monitoring mission in Ukraine, following his conversations with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and later US President Barack Obama. Cameron added that in the meantime, the EU should not stop its preparations for potential additional sanctions against Russia.
Obama and Cameron "agreed that the outcome of the Geneva meeting represented a positive step forward, but that it was essential that the agreements reached were rapidly implemented in order to reduce tensions and create space for political dialogue in Ukraine,” said Cameron’s press office.
"They agreed that the United States and European Union should do all they could to help implement these agreements, in particular through providing additional support to the OSCE special monitoring mission."
17 April 2014
Both the introduction of a global ban on the entry of Russian men into Ukraine and “filtering” procedures against Crimean women show a complete lack of democratic principles, Russia’s deputy speaker of the lower house of parliament, Sergey Zheleznyak, told RIA Novosti.
Ukraine’s Party of Regions MP, Anna German, said Ukraine's ban on the entry of Russian men, as well as the introduction of “filtering” the entrance of women from Crimea, will not benefit Ukrainian-Russian relations, and will only exacerbate the situation, RIA Novosti quoted German as saying in an interview.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed Geneva talks on Ukraine and expressed encouragement at steps taken by all parties to de-escalate the situation. He added that the situation in Ukraine remains very volatile and says he hopes that all sides are committed to their expressed intentions.
Canada is contributing an additional six CF-18 planes and 20 officers to NATO’s efforts to contain Russia.
"This is in response to the situation that's developing there, and frankly, more generally to the concern that we have on what really is expansionism and militarism on the part of Russia under the presidency of Mr. Putin," Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced during a meeting with top military officials in Ottawa.
Sources indicated to local CBC news that the officers will serve at the NATO headquarters in Belgium, while the war planes will be stationed in the Polish city of Lask – the focal point of increased NATO presence in the region.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin discussed the status of Tatars and energy cooperation during an official phone conversation, the Kremlin press service reports.
There are more than 200,000 Tatars in Crimea, and they have close cultural and ethnic relations with Turks. Earlier on Thursday, Putin said he was on the verge of issuing an act that would historically rehabilitate the peninsula’s ethnic majority, which was persecuted by Joseph Stalin in the middle of the last century.
NATO is sending part of its rapid reaction fleet to the Baltic “for the foreseeable future” to reassure allies during “a period of tension,” according to a statement published by the organization.
The group includes four minesweepers and a support ship, and it will engage in a mine-hunting exercise over the next month.
On Wednesday, the alliance also said it would be reinforcing its naval strength in eastern Europe.
Kiev has asked the International Criminal Court to investigate large-scale crimes during the stand-off between deposed President Viktor Yanukovich and demonstrators in Independence Square in Kiev between November 2013 and February 2014.
The coup-appointed regime insists that the Yanukovich government ordered special forces troops to fire upon peaceful protesters to put an end to the showdown. Yanukovich-era officials deny this, and say the deaths were the work of provocateurs hired by Maidan leaders.
The ICC has previously handled crimes concerning ousted politicians, but has no responsibility to take on the case. Kiev has requested that any investigation does not concern events following Yanukovich’s toppling.
The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution that would scupper the South Stream gas pipeline from Russia to the EU over events in Ukraine with 437 MEPs voting for the resolution, with 49 voting against, and 85 abstaining. The MEPs accused Moscow of "supporting violent separatists and armed militias, led by Russian special forces" in southeast Ukraine and demanded that Russia "removes its troops from the eastern border of Ukraine."
The measures against Moscow may affect not only the long-gestating gas project that would deliver energy to southern Europe, but also Russian firms and their EU assets, though the document did not outline specific sanctions.
One EU country opposing this move is Bulgaria, which depends entirely on Russian gas, and through which the South Stream pipeline was to pass.
"The South Stream is a long-term infrastructure project of strategic importance. Now they [the European Parliament] want to stop the South Stream. How are we to develop? This crisis at the moment shows that we do not have security of natural gas supplies for Bulgaria," the country’s energy minister, Dragomir Stoynev, said during a press conference in Sofia.
Washington has approved additional “non-lethal support” to Ukraine, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has announced. The aid includes “medical supplies and shelters,” Reuter quotes.
France will send at least four fighter jets to patrol the airspace of several Baltic States “by end of April” due to the situation in Ukraine, French army spokesman, Colonel Pascal Georgin, was quoted as saying by Itar-Tass.
According to the spokesman, the move is in line with NATO’s patrol mission. Earlier, France sent four fighter jets to patrol the airspace of Poland and Romania, as well as revealing that an Awacs-equipped aircraft is patrolling the region.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry held a closed-door meeting ahead of the four-side conference in Geneva on Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is heading to Geneva for Ukraine talks with the US, the EU, and Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military freed detained Russian journalists from ‘Russia’ TV channel, Russia 24 reported. The night before, there were reports that a group of journalists were detained in southeastern Ukraine. The release comes after the Russian embassy in Kiev sent a note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine calling for an explanation as to why the reporters were detained.
The debts of Ukrainian TV channels to their Russian counterparts were discussed during a closed-door meeting with Russia’s Deputy Minister of Communications Aleksey Volin, Vedomosti newspaper reported, citing sources who attended the meeting. Last year, Ukrainian channels purchased the rights to Russian series and shows worth US$200-$300 million, but started falling behind on payments at the end of 2013.
Geneva talks on Ukraine between Russia, the US, the EU and Ukraine must result in Ukraine getting onto the path of normal development, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said at the UNSC meeting. Churkin added that it is important for all regions of Ukraine to understand what the future has in store for them.
Slovakia has increased security in the eastern part of the country’s border that is adjacent to Ukraine, news agency TASR reported, citing a statement by Interior Minister Robert Kalinyak.
“The situation in Ukraine is developing dramatically. We have adopted extraordinary measures,” Kalinyak said without specifying which measures were taken to enhance security.
EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton met with Ukraine’s acting Foreign Minister Andrey Deshchytsa ahead of the Geneva talks on Ukraine between Russia, the US, the EU, and Ukraine.
#EU High Rep #Ashton meets Ukrainian FM Andrii Dechchytsia ahead of Geneva talks on #Ukrainepic.twitter.com/O4Gb1UOBla
— Michael Mann (@EUHighRepSpox) April 16, 2014
16 April 2014
Assistant UN Secretary General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic said that the second UN human rights report on Ukraine will be submitted on May 15.
Employees with Europe’s Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) observer mission in Ukraine are trying to be impartial in their work, observing without bias against the protesters in the southeastern part of the country, Kommersant newspaper cited Russia's permanent representative to the OSCE, Andrey Kelin, as saying.
Spain's minister of foreign affairs and cooperation, José García-Margallo y Marfil, called for saving the dialogue with Russia and urged the respect of international laws, Spain’s news agency EFE reported. "Russia should be a partner, not an opponent of the European Union,” the minister was quoted as saying.
Ruptly’s footage shows a group of women over 50 years old helping to man checkpoints on roads in Donetsk Oblast in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday evening
United States Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power told the UNSC that Kiev’s actions in the east of the country were “careful and balanced.”
Russia's permanent representative to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, said Moscow does not have plans to use military intervention in Ukraine or invade any other territory, CNN reported. “Russia has no plans to intervene militarily, no plans to invade anybody – not Ukraine, not any other country; or to annex anything,” he said.
Churkin said Russia will not discuss Crimea at the UNSC meeting, at least not in the framework of the “situation in Ukraine.”
Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said the Russian language is being forced out of common utilization in Ukraine.
Churkin at UNSC: “Our discussion here reminds me of a broken record.”
UN observers will be verifying reports about attacks on Ukrainian presidential candidates, Assistant UN Secretary General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic said during the UNSC meeting.
Earlier in the week, there were reports that radicals attacked two Ukrainian presidential candidates - Mikhail Dobkin and Oleg Tsarev.
The Russian embassy in Kiev sent a note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in connection with the detention of journalists from ‘Russia’ TV channel, Interfax reported. Russia is expecting an explanation from the ministry as to why the journalists were detained.
Ukraine’s acting prosecutor general, Oleg Mahnitsky, said that former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov is wanted for abuse of power, according to local Inter TV channel. Mahnitsky added that a criminal investigation has been opened into the matter.
Residents in southeastern Ukraine warned authorities that they are willing to use themselves as live shields, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said during the UNSC meeting. Some army personnel are switching to the side of the people, he added.
The actions of the Ukrainian government may lead to a civil war, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin stressed during the UNSC meeting in New York. Churkin added that the idea behind the use of force in eastern Ukraine comes from representatives of those countries that are “constantly whispering something” into the ears of Ukraine’s top leaders.
Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Churkin to UNSC: Russians are either being called “not ethnic people,” or “aliens,” or “invaders.”
Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin called the UN human rights report “biased in nature” and onesided during the UNSC meeting in New York.
The US State Department said that they’ve prepared additional sanctions against Russia, but they won’t be implemented until after the talks on Ukraine take place Thursday in Geneva, Switzerland.
“Don't expect any before tomorrow’s meetings,” said Marie Harf, deputy spokesperson at the State Department. “But if there are not steps taken by Russia to de-escalate, we will take additional steps, including additional sanctions.”
Some of the police officers in Donetsk have sided with the city’s pro-Russian protesters, Vitaly Yarema, Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister, was cited as saying by Itar-Tass news agency.
“The situation is very complicated in Donetsk. The mayor and the head of administration are constantly in touch with us. There are police officers, who preserve Ukrainian independence, but there are some police officers, who put on St. George ribbons (the symbol of the protesters),” Yarema said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has accused Washington of double standards and hypocrisy, saying that the US government had taken completely different approaches toward the Maidan protesters and the pro-federalization demonstrators in southeast Ukraine.
“The US keeps justifying the outrageous acts of the ‘Maidan heroes,’ calling it a people’s revolution, but labels the protests in Donetsk, Kharkov, Lugansk, Slavyansk and other cities a raid by the foreign terrorists. This isn’t just double standards, but outright hypocrisy,” the ministry said.
Washington is “juggling with facts” to blame Russia for being behind the protests in southeast Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“The US State Department is frantically collecting each and every speculation distributed by the current Kiev authorities,” the ministry said. “Take, for example, the two hastily arranged press release from April 13, with a heap of dubious ‘facts’ linking the Russian special forces with the seizure of administrative buildings and coordination of protest action.”
The ministry said that Kalashnikov rifles in the hands of the protesters was very inconclusive “proof” of Russian involvement, as the US State Department is well aware that AK-47s are also used by the Ukrainian army and special forces.
Moscow said that it was stunned by “the stubborn unwillingness or inability [of the US] to see reality for what it is; and a push to force this distorted perception of what is happening in southeast Ukraine upon the rest of the world.”
By saying that “law must be enforced” in the southeast of Ukraine, the US is, in fact, giving its approval to Kiev’s war against its own citizens, the Russian Foreign ministry said in a statement.
“Washington must realize the catastrophic consequences of such reckless support for their Kiev proteges,” the ministry said.
The activists in Donetsk have replaced the Ukrainian flag in front of the mayor’s office with the flag of the Donetsk People’s Republic.
#Donetsk city mayor office, flag change. Activists remove #Ukrainian one and put #Donbass and #Oplot. #Kiev#protestpic.twitter.com/saImkbe8a0
— Maria Finoshina (@MFinoshina_RT) April 16, 2014
The troops from the disbanded Berkut special police force who were injured in the line of duty during the Maidan riots in Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, will receive financial assistance of 200,000 roubles (around $5,500), Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev announced.
Protesters in eastern Ukraine have hoisted flags of the recently-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic above the buildings of the District Councils in the towns of Novoazovsk and Krasnoarmeisk, local media reports.
In Novoazovsk, several dozen pro-federalization supporters gathered near the building of the local administration demanding that it support the referendum. During the rally, the participants replaced the Ukrainian flags with the flag of the Donetsk People’s Republic.
In Krasnoarmeisk, the flag of Donetsk People’s Republic was hoisted together with the Ukrainian one. Later, protesters made their way to the local police department and hung the Donetsk People's Republic flag from one of its windows.
A new criminal case has been opened against Ukrainian presidential candidate Oleg Tsarev, Lugansk Region Prosecutor’s Office said Wednesday. According to the body, Tsarev has been charged with “actions promoting changes within the national borders” for his public pro-Russian speeches, in which he supported the demands of eastern Ukrainians for referendum and federalization.
This is the latest case brought against Tsarev, who last Tuesday was charged with “violation of national territorial integrity and immunity of Ukraine” by the Kiev Prosecutor’s Office. The charges are punishable by up to 12 years in prison, according to the Ukrainian Criminal Code.
Tsarev, who is vehemently opposed to the coup-imposed Kiev government, was assaulted and beaten up by radical thugs in the ICTV network building in Kiev on Tuesday, where he was being filmed with his electoral team. The politician stressed he would not be intimidated and would not withdraw from the presidential race, despite his injuries.
The Party of Regions’ candidate for Ukrainian president, Mikhail Dobkin, says he’ll withdraw from the election if Kiev’s military uses force against civilians in the southeast of the country.
“If the current interim Ukrainian authorities use force in the southeast of the country, if the military opens fire on the people, I’ll quit the presidential campaign and never recognize the election and the person whom they appoint as president,” Dobkin was reported as saying by Itar-Tass news agency.
The candidate said that the coup-imposed Ukrainian authorities are “physically preventing” him from appearing on television.
Dobkin also expressed doubt that the election, scheduled from May 25, will be even held as “some of the opponents, who currently speaking about the need for salvation for Ukraine, are doing everything to disrupt it.”
Censorship is depriving people in the West of their right for freedom of information as all Russian comments on Ukraine are being ignored, said Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary.
Russia’s stance on Ukraine is “consistent and well-reasoned,” with the country’s top officials using every opportunity to explain it and dispel rumors, Peskov told the Russia-24 TV channel.
“But those explanations aren’t getting through, not because of their invalidity… but because they encounter a rough concrete wall of censorship,” he said.
“We’ve never seen anything like it. We couldn’t have thought that it can all happen so overtly,” Peskov added.
Kramatorsk residents sit near Ukrainian tanks.
Sit-in citoyen pro-russe devant les tanks de l'armée ukrainienne près de . #Ukraine@RadioCanadaInfopic.twitter.com/qbdsB1P5i8
— J-Francois Belanger (@belangerjf) April 16, 2014
The mayor's office in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk has not been seized by protesters and such reports could be a provocation, a spokesman for a local militia group told RIA Novosti.
The anti-Maidan movement against the Kiev coup-imposed government in the southern city of Odessa has called for protest action.
“From this day on, the Odessa region is declared the Odessa Popular Republic where the power belongs only to the people who live there. Tomorrow at 4pm [13:00 GMT] Odessa should be ground to a halt! Literally! Your task at the indicated time is to block the transport connections indicated on the map with your cars, pedestrians, go to the zebra crossings and stand there. Create as many traffic jams across the city as possible,” the Odessa Anti-Maidan movement website addressed the city’s residents.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov believes the current crisis in Ukraine shows “emphatically deep discrepancies between the southeast and the west” in terms of the country’s future.
In his comment to ‘Arguments and Facts’ newspaper, which has been posted at the Foreign Ministry’s webpage, Lavrov has called on Ukrainians to begin “all-embracing and comprehensive dialogue.”
"It cannot be described as a normal situation when, after each presidential election, the Constitution was changed in the country establishing this or that system of government depending on the will of political forces which had won at that moment," Lavrov said. "Therefore, federalization is a path for each region to feel comfortable and to feel its rights ensured and traditions and a habitual way of life protected."
Lavrov believes all of the regions and political forces in Ukraine must have their say in the discussion of the country’s future development and in finding a solution to the current crisis.
Canada announced that it will be boycotting an upcoming meeting of the Arctic Council in Moscow, citing Russia's actions in the Ukrainian crisis. Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq said she will not be attending the meeting, which is scheduled for later his week.
15 April 2014
The UN Security Council will have a meeting to discuss the human rights situation in the ongoing crisis in Ukraine at 16:00 New York time, Itar-Tass reports.
Observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) have arrived in Sumy Oblast in northeastern Ukraine, according to a local administration office. The group consists of representatives from Benelux, Georgia, the Czech Republic, and Sweden. The goal of the mission is to observe military forces in Ukraine, record facts of irregular military activity, and prevent escalation of the conflict.
It is not the right time to send UN peacekeeping troops to Ukraine, Mexican newspaper Reforma quoted UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as saying in an interview.
“At this moment, it doesn’t seem very practical to send troops,” Ban said. “Unless we have a clear mandate and authorization from the Security Council, I can’t take any action.”
The US should adopt measures to influence authorities in Kiev to normalize the situation in southeastern Ukraine, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergey Ryabkov, said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
Ukraine’s Security Service opened up a criminal investigation into Slavyansk’s mayor, Neli Shtepa, over separatism in the Donetsk regional department, Interfax reported. Shtepa first supported the goal of Slavyansk’s citizens to hold a referendum, but later fled the town.
Currently, transport is not being allowed out of the eastern city of Slavyansk while “tanks are approaching,” Roman Sokolenko from the People's Militia of Donbass (led by Pavel Gubarev) has told RT. Citing a “recon team,” he said that the city is encircled by armored vehicles.
“People are manning barricades and reading for attack. For now it is quiet in the city. Everyone is waiting for the attack [by the Army],” he said. In Sokolenko’s words, the protesters are in a good mood and “are ready to protect their land.”
Ukrainian troops and military hardware have been gathering near the city of Izyum in the Kharkov region in eastern Ukraine. This comes after President Aleksandr Turchinov announced a crackdown on anti-government protesters in the north of the Donetsk Region. Izuym is just 50 kilometers away from Slavyansk, where the Army operation is taking place.
This looks like war preparations. Checkpoint near #Skavyansk#Donetsk region @Ruptlypic.twitter.com/MdskpNtnW4
— denise reese (@denice_ruptly) April 15, 2014
The Kremlin said the allegations about Russia’s military presence in eastern Ukraine are “absurd.”
"These are absurd statements. There are no Russian troops there. The president and the foreign minister have spoken about it,” said Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov.
"We can only be startled by the fact that all these statements made by the Russian side are deliberately chosen not to be heard (by the West)," he added.
The Security Service of Ukraine has launched a criminal investigation against employees of an unnamed Russian bank under suspicion that they have been supporting the protesters in south-eastern Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has previously firmly denied all allegations from Western capitals and Kiev that Moscow should be held responsible for the latest developments in Ukraine’s rioting regions. Ukrainian interim government would be better served by listening to its people and giving clear answers to questions posed by the population, Lavrov said.
Corruption, non-independence of the judiciary and a lack of free elections prompted protests that took place in Ukraine from November to February, according to a UN report on Ukraine’s human rights situation presented by Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic .
The report also added that ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine were falsely claimed to be under attack.
"Although there were some attacks against the ethnic Russian community, these were neither systematic nor widespread," said the report.
In March, Simonovic said he was “gravely concerned about the situation in Crimea, where there appears to be no rule of law at present.” Moscow has described Simonovic’s remarks on Crimea as dictated by “fake concern.”
The visit of CIA chief John Brennan to Ukraine shows the “close bond between the Ukrainian government and the US,” says the chairman of Russia’s State Duma's Foreign Affairs Committee, Aleksey Pushkov.
According to Pushkov, the Kiev government is making its decisions in accordance with Washington.
On Monday, the White House confirmed that Brennan visited the Ukrainian capital Kiev over the weekend and met with high-ranking Ukrainian officials.
Protesters in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk have erected barricades after the Kiev coup-appointed government announced a crackdown on the Donetsk region on Tuesday.
Barricades in #Donetsk. Photo by @lizzy_shortpic.twitter.com/yQOoBzXnL2
— Ruptly (@Ruptly) April 15, 2014
At least 200 anti-government protesters have attempted to enter the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, to demand the resignation of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov.
The eastern Ukrainian city of Gorlovka will take part in the referendum on the independence of the Donetsk Region, people’s mayor Aleksandr Sapunov told RIA Novosti.
The referendum will take place not later than May 11.
Nationalists from the Ukrainian Right Sector group have stormed the HQ of Ukraine’s Communist Party in the northeastern city of Sumy, reported the local TSN TV channel. The activists have beaten the secretary of Sumy regional committee Valery Siryachenko.
Earlier, Right Sector members stormed the Communist Party HQ in the western city of Rovno.
The decision by the coup-appointed Kiev government to use force on Ukrainian citizens in the country’s south-east is unacceptable, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov said during press conference in Beijing, China.
Kiev’s decision to conduct a joint operation with UN peacekeeping forces is unacceptable, he said, adding that Russia will wait objective information from the OSCE mission in south-eastern Ukraine.
According to the minister, constitutional reform that takes into consideration all Ukrainian regions is the key to controlling the situation in the crisis-torn country.
The anti-Kiev activists continue to control the buildings of the local city council and police department in Gorlovka, reports RIA Novosti.
The protesters have erected a barricade made of tires in front of the entrance of police department. Russian flags and flags of People’s Republic of Donetsk are flying above the building.
Ukrainian citizens should take part in shaping their country, based on the equality of nations and languages, Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev wrote on his Facebook page.
According to Medvedev, the Ukrainian people became the ‘hostages’ of politicians whom they didn’t choose and radicals who illegitimately became the police and army.
Unconfirmed reports from the anti-government protesters in the Ukrainian eastern city of Slavyansk say clashes are occurring on the outskirts of the city, according to Interfax.
“Blasts and gunshots can be heard. Armored infantry vehicles are moving towards the city,” said an anti-government activist who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Footage called 'People versus Tank’ has emerged on YouTube. In the video, local people in the outskirts of the eastern town of Rodinskoye have stopped a tank allegedly on its way from Kiev to take part in the crackdown against south-eastern Ukrainian cities.
“Who are you going to shoot at?” shouted people at the military personnel in the tank.
Unidentified people have reportedly set fire to the local administration building in the village of Andreevka, in the suburbs of the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk, a representative from Slavyansk City Council told RIA Novosti .
The UN outlined the risks of Ukraine’s nationalistic rhetoric in a new report written by the Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic. It warns that ethnic, racial and religious hatred adopted by some of the political factions in Ukraine may have a heavy impact on the situation in the country.
The report calls on Ukrainian authorities to stop the division of the country by ensuring that all citizens, including minorities, have equal participation in politics, especially when it comes to developing language rights legislation, Itar-Tass reported.
The aide to the acting mayor of the eastern Ukrainian town of Slavyansk, Vyacheslav Ponomarev, and a representative of the self-defence units denied earlier media reports of fighting on the outskirts of the city, RIA Novosti quoted her as saying. “According to our information everything is calm in the vicinity of Slavyansk,” she said.
Ukrainian presidential candidate Oleg Tsarev was brutally beaten by radicals and is now in critical condition, after being trapped inside the ICTV building after appearing on the Ukrainian talk show ‘Svoboda Slova’, Tsarev’s press office reported. Earlier, there were reports of the entire building being surrounded by unidentified gunmen.
A self-defence faction of the Ukrainian eastern city of Slavyansk is reporting fighting on the outskirts of the town, according to Interfax. There are reports of a building burning and shots being fired in the nearby village of Andrrevka.
The police HQ in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk has been cleared of anti-government protesters, said Ukrainian police.
Meanwhile, protesters are still blocking the city airport, the police added.
On Saturday, pro-federalization protesters occupied police headquarters in the town of Kramatorsk. Around 50 armed protesters entered the building and several warning shots were fire
14 April 2014
Radicals attacked two presidential candidates that were taking part in popular Ukrainian talk show ‘Svoboda Slova’. Unidentified individuals blocked and damaged the vehicle carrying Mikhail Dobkin and injured his aides, the presidential candidate said during a live phone interview later on the show. Other media reports said that the radicals poured green-coloured anti-septic solution and flour on him.
The vehicle carrying a second presidential candidate, Oleg Tsarev, was similarly blocked by radicals inside the ICTV building, where the show was taking place, Tsarev’s press service reported. The whole building is surrounded by unidentified gunmen, according to the statement.
The two candidates were scheduled to join a third presidential candidate, Yulia Tymoshenko, on the talk show.
There are no new specifics regarding talk of additional EU sanctions against Russia, Russia's Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov told reporters while commenting on a summary document following a European Council on Foreign Affairs meeting in Luxembourg. Chizhov said that developments in Ukraine in the next few hours or days will demonstrate (to Russia) if there is anything to discuss with Ukraine's acting foreign minister at an April 17th Geneva meeting.
Ukrainian armed forces are preparing to implement orders outlined by the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), acting Defence Minister Mikhail Koval said on local television.
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry announced the establishment of special security units to protect public order, according to the ministry’s website.
Pro-federalization protesters set up roadblocks on all of the three main roads leading into the eastern Ukrainian town of Slavyansk, RIA Novosti reported. The move follows earlier reports that Ukrainian tanks and heavy military equipment were moving towards the town.
Armored Personnel Carriers belonging to the Ukrainian army have been spotted near the town of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine, RIA Novosti quoted witnesses as saying. Earlier, the city’s administration building was taken over by pro-federalization protesters.
The National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine approved the decision to involve the Ukrainian army in an "anti-terrorist operation" in the east of Ukraine, according to Deputy Secretary of NSDC Victoria Syumar’s Facebook post.
Demonstrators gathered on Independence Square in central Kiev are demanding the resignation of acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and more decisive actions in eastern Ukraine, Interfax quoted local media as saying.
Ukrainian tanks and heavy military equipment are moving towards the eastern town of Slavyansk, ITAR-TASS reported quoting acting mayor Vyacheslav Ponomarev as saying. On Monday, protesters ignored the ultimatum to leave by 9 am, and a Russian flag continued to fly over the besieged police HQs in Slavyansk. Ponomarev added that they are getting ready and are monitoring the situation. “We don’t want bloodshed, we are committed to negotiations,” he said.
Vladimir Putin has urged his US counterpart Barack Obama to use his influence on the Ukrainian government to prevent “bloodshed” in the country.
“The current protest in the south-east of the country is the result of the unwillingness and the inability of the current regime in Kiev to consider the interests of the Russians and Russian speakers. Putin called upon Obama to use all of his capabilities, to prevent the use of force and bloodshed,” said a statement from the Kremlin press service.
The Russian President also denied that Russia is meddling in Ukraine.
“The President noted that such speculation is based on unreliable information. Ukrainian authorities should rather direct their attention to formulating a new constitution that involves all political forces in the country, creating a federalized state and guaranteeing Ukraine's non-aligned status,” said the statement.
The US has allocated $11.4 million to help Ukraine organize a “free, fair and peaceful” presidential election, which is scheduled for May 25, the State Department said.
The funds will be used to support local and international election observers, creating a transparent and efficient electoral commission, voter education campaign and other activities.
European Union foreign ministers have agreed to expand sanctions against Russia, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said, Reuters reports.
"We have agreed among foreign ministers to expand the sanctions ... and to add further names to those sanctions," he said, adding that there will be "some rapid and important work on the exact numbers and names.”
The Pentagon said a Russian fighter jet made multiple close-range passes near an American navy destroyer when the warship was deployed in the Black Sea.
Pentagon defined the jet as a Russian Su-24 aircraft, or Fencer, which made 12 passes at low altitude near the USS Donald Cook that, at the time, was conducting a patrol in international waters in the western Black Sea, Reuters reported.
European Union leaders could hold a summit next week to adopt new sanctions against Russia, France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Monday.
"If it is necessary, there could be a meeting of heads of state and government on a European level next week, which might adopt new sanctions," Fabius told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg to discuss the Ukraine crisis. (Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin is receiving pleas for help from Ukrainians as a result of the events unfolding in the eastern part of the country, his press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, told the media in Moscow.
“He is getting a lot of appeals addressed personally to him, asking him to intervene in one way or another. He is monitoring the situation in Ukraine with great concern,” Peskov said.
Anti-Maidan protesters have seized a local airfield in the city of Slavyansk, Unian news agency reports. In this video, a masked man says (01:04): “Today we seized Slavyansk airfield and said that no helicopter belonging to Ukrainian army will land here.”
This lady gives me sweets here in #Sloviansk.There are men with machine guns,there are much more peaceful people here pic.twitter.com/WBmn344kNU
— GrahamWPhillips (@GrahamWP_UK) April 14, 2014
Ukraine’s coup-empowered president, Aleksandr Turchinov, has proposed to conduct a joint operation with UN peacekeeping forces in the east of the country in a phone call with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Turchinov told Ban Ki-moon that Kiev’s new authorities would welcome “if, with your help, there will be conducted a joint anti-terrorist operation in the east of the country. Then, specialists and observers will be able to confirm the legitimacy and legality of our actions,” the press office of the Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party quoted Turchinov as saying.
On his part, Ban Ki-moon said that Kiev could rely fully on help from the UN as its partner.
Roughly two dozen pro-federalization protesters have seized the building of the city council in the city of Zhdanovka in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region. One of the protesters declared that Zhdanovka was a part of the “Donetsk People’s Republic,” local Unian news agency reported. The media report said that no one prevented the seizure. Activists claimed that local government officials went over to the side of pro-federalization supporters.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has urged further sanctions against Russia, claiming that Moscow was responsible for the anti-Maidan protests in southeastern Ukraine.
"There can't really be any real doubt that this is something that has been planned and brought about by Russia," Hague said. "I don't think denials of Russian involvement have a shred of credibility."
The next round of EU sanctions may include restrictions on trade and finance with Russia, Hague said.
Gorlovka’s police HQ is under the complete control of the anti-Maidan protesters. Many police officers have declared their support for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic.
The protesters are preparing to erect barricades around the building, in a similar way to how this was done in other Donetsk region cities and towns, and spread their control to other parts of the city.
The leaders of the protest demanded that no one try to attack the people responsible for pushing an activist off of the entrance roof during the siege. They promised a proper investigation of the incident.
The staff of the regional administration in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk has been evacuated, only law enforces remained in the building, reported Interfax.
According to local Vostochny Variant internet portal, the administration staff was evacuated due to possible crackdown on the building scheduled 12pm local time (09:00 GMT).
Earlier, the anti-Maidan activists have taken over the building of regional security service.
One of the law enforcers from the protester-seized police HQ in Gorlovka has being escorted out of the building. Some more radical people in the crowd called for immediate revenge for pushing down an activist from the entrance roof, but their more cool-headed comrades are restraining them.
The policeman was taken to an ambulance parked near the HQ. The vehicle then drove away.
Heated negotiations are underway at Gorlovka police HQ, as the protesters try to convince the defending troops to lay down arms and leave the building.
Protesters besieging the police HQ in Gorlovka have forced their way inside the building. They are breaking glass in the lobby and demanding that the officer in charge show up.
Troops holding the police HQ in Gorlovka, which is surrounded by several hundreds of protesters opened fire and used stun grenades, when the protesters tried to raise a Russian flag on the entrance to the building, footage from the scene showed.
It's not clear whether anyone was hurt in the incident, but the flag was taken down right after it was raised.
The crowd of protesters remains on the scene.
Kiev may hold a national referendum on the future political system of Ukraine simultaneously with the presidential election on May 25, coup-appointed acting President Aleksandr Turchinov announced. Doing so would require a parliament to pass a law in that regard.
Coup-appointed acting President Aleksandr Turchinov has sacked Vitaly Tsygankov, the head of the Anti-Terrorism Center of the Ukrainian Security Service, just a week after appointing him to this position. The new head of the center is Vasily Krutov.
Anti-Maidan activists are trying to take over police HQ in Gorlovka, a city with a population of more than 250,000 in the turbulent Donetsk Region of Ukraine, local media reported.
Earlier reports said some of the protesters spent the night in City Hall.
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry wants to recruit 12,000 fighters into a newly-created Special Operations Corps in response to the protest in the east, coup-appointed Interior Minister Arsen Avakov announced on his Facebook page.
Each region will have its own branch of the corps, with eastern parts of the country being on the priority list.
He didn't explain whether the new units will be formed in addition to or as a replacement for the National Guard, which was formed after the coup to incorporate part of the paramilitary forces, which played part in ousting President Viktor Yanukovich.
The announcement comes as Kiev threatened to use military force against the unruly Dotensk Region, where anti-Maidan activists seized a number of government buildings in different cities and towns over the last week.
13 April 2014
CIA has refused to comment on reports that its director John Brennan travelled to Ukraine on Saturday to meet the coup-imposed authorities in Kiev, but said he did not influence their decision to order a military operation in the country’s east.
“The claim that Director Brennan encouraged Ukrainian authorities to conduct tactical operations inside Ukraine is completely false,” CIA spokesman Todd Ebitz said as cited by AP. “Like other senior U.S. officials, Director Brennan strongly believes that a diplomatic solution is the only way to resolve the crisis between Russia and Ukraine.”
CIA spokesman Todd Ebitz refused to give any comments on Brennan’s travels.
During a press conference of Sunday, Ukraine's ousted president Viktor Yanukovich said that Brennan “de facto sanctioned” the use of weapons during his secret visit to Kiev.
Ukraine's UN envoy Yuriy Sergeyev will take part in a Security Council meeting to discuss the crisis if it is decided to hold an open session, a diplomatic source told Itar-Tass.
“The format of the meeting is not agreed yet, consultations on this are ongoing,” the source said.
The United Nations Security Council is planning to hold an emergency session at 0:00 GMT on Monday, requested by Russia to discuss Ukraine’s declaration of a so-called “anti-terrorist operation” against pro-federation protesters in Eastern Ukraine.
US Intelligence services occupy an entire floor of the security service HQ in Kiev, Ukrainian Presidential candidate Oleg Tsarev told Ria Novosti.
“I know from many officers from the security service of Ukraine that the American intelligence services very actively participate in all that occurs in Ukraine. They tell me that a whole floor of the security service was offered to the American intelligence services. The Ukrainian officers have no right to go there,” Tsarev said.
The pro-federalization activists have seized the city council building in the town of Khartsyzsk located in the Donetsk region, Itar-tass reported. The activists replaced the Ukrainian flag with the one of the Donetsk people’s republic.
The UN Security Council is to gather for an urgent session to discuss the escalating crisis in south-eastern Ukraine, a source in the council told RIA Novosti. The meeting is to take place at 12 GMT
A special operation against protesters in Donetsk region may start as soon as tonight, acting head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Valentin Nalivaichenko has said on “1+1” local channel. The “full-scale operation” will involve “serious engagement of military forces, anti-terrorist forces and law enforcement of Ukraine”
The pro-federalization protesters have taken over the city council in the town of Makeevka in Ukraine’s Donetsk Region.
According to ITAR-TASS news agency, the seizure of the government building went on peacefully, with no reports of clashes.
The reserve battalion of the National Guard has come on combat duty in the east of Ukraine, which is gripped by anti-Kiev protests.
“The battalion consists of 350 reservists,” the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said.
The Ukrainian National guard was organized shortly after the February’s coup in order to legalize the militants, which took part in the Maidan standoff.
Events in south-eastern Ukraine have taken a very dangerous turn, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Moscow slammed Sunday’s order, issued by the coup-imposed President Aleksandr Turchinov approving a full-scale security operation in the country’s eastern regions, as “criminal”.
“We demand the Maidan henchmen, who overthrew the legitimate president, to immediately stop the war against their own people, to fulfill all the obligations under the Agreement of 21 February,” the Foreign Ministry said.
It depends on the West now to stop the civil war in Ukraine, the ministry stressed.
“The Russian side calls the UN Security Council and the OSCE to urgently consider the crisis in south-east Ukraine,” Moscow concluded.
Over 1, 000 people have gathered in central Slavyansk to protest for the federalization of Ukraine. They demand holding a referendum and to stop pressure on Donbas from Kiev. Protesters are chanting “Glory to Donbas”.
A car with passengers was fired at and two were killed and one injured, said journalist Maxim Levin as cited by Interfax. An unconfirmed report suggests that a press card was found in the car. The injured person is in a serious condition and needs to be transported to Donetsk, Levin added.
One man has been killed in Slavyansk near the hospital, medical officials told RIA Novosti. The man has not yet been identified. There have been unconfirmed reports in Ukrainian media that the man could be a journalist.
A rally was held in a south-eastern city Zaporizhia as the people took to the streets holding St. George’s ribbons and Russian flags. The pro-Russian protesters were circled by pro-Maidan activists, who said they want to prevent the seizure of government buildings. Police used tear gas to disperse the crowd and restored the cordon separating the two conflicting sides, UNIAN news agency reported. The pro-Maidan activists reportedly threw eggs and toilet paper rolls at the supporters of Ukraine’s federalization.
Ukraine’s Security Council has approved a full-scale security operation in the country’s eastern regions following the crackdown in Slavyansk, coup-imposed President Aleksandr Turchinov said. Military forces will take part in the operation, he added.
At the same time, the new authorities in Kiev are ready to consider granting more autonomy to the regions, Turchinov said. He gave pro-independence supporters in eastern Ukraine until Monday morning to leave the government buildings they have occupied.
OSCE monitors have arrived at the protests-gripped city of Slavyansk, local news website slavgorod.com.ua reported. An OSCE representative from Poland told the news portal that its position is that people of Ukraine have to solve their domestic conflict without bloodshed. Protesters stopped a car with OSCE representatives as it entered the city. They surrounded the car, shouting that they want to show European monitors what is really happening in Slavyansk, because what European media is reporting is not an accurate picture. They first offered to take them behind the barricades, but then refused to do so.
The US is going to ramp up sanctions against Russia if recent actions continue in Ukraine, US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power warned.
"I think we've seen that the sanctions can bite and if actions like the kind we've seen over the last few days continue, you're going to see a ramping up of those sanctions," Power said on ABC's "This Week".
Pro-federalization protesters have seized a Kharkov city administration building, members of the Ukrainian Eastern Bloc movement told RIA Novosti. The information could not be immediately confirmed.
A column of anti-Maidan activists is now heading to the local pre-trial detention center where other anti-government activists are being held. People are shouting slogans such as “Kharkov, wake up!” and “Free Kharkov heroes!” The crowd is demanding the release of at least 70 pro-autonomy activists who were detained by police some days earlier in a demonstration against the Kiev coup-appointed government.
Ten protesters have been injured in clashes in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkov between the anti- and pro-Maidan activists, said Svetlana Gorbunova-Ruban, the city’s deputy mayor, Interfax reports. A police officer is among the injured, she added.
The pro-independence activists have erected barricades in the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol next to the building of the local city council, report Interfax. All the entrances to the building have been blocked by tires and sticks.
Pro-independence demonstrations and rallies in support of the Kiev coup-appointed government are taking place in the southeastern city of Zaporozhye, Interfax reports. Police cordons are controlling the situation in the city to prevent clashes.
Clashes between pro-autonomy protesters and those who support new Kiev authorities have escalated in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkov, Interfax reports. According to the witnesses, at least three people have been injured in the clashes.
Now the protesters have moved to Svoboda (Freedom) Square and the police cordons are trying to split up the activists.
The clashes started when the column of anti-Maidan activists has heading to the local pre-trial detention center where other anti-government activists are being held . The crowd demanded the release of at least 70 pro-autonomy activists who were detained by police some days earlier in a demonstration against the Kiev coup-appointed government.
Kiev authorities have ordered a crackdown on the eastern city of Slavyansk, DNR Slavyansk reports. A column of armored infantry vehicles and several helicopters have been sent to the city.
However, the column was blocked by local residents at the city limits. The vehicles then turned toward the eastern city of Kharkov. Two fishermen have reportedly received gunshot wounds and have been taken to hospital.
Meanwhile, a group of Crimean Cossacks and members of the coup-disbanded Berkut riot police are heading to help people of Slavyansk, DNR Slavyansk reports. The city residents have dug trenches and resisted the nationalists from the Pravy Sektor (Right Sector ) group. “We [city residents] are chasing them [Right Sector] into the forests,” said a local activist.
Russia must desist from steps which destabilise #Ukraine and undermine the possibility of Contact Group talks
— William Hague (@WilliamJHague) April 13, 2014
The anti-government protesters in the city of Mariupol in eastern Ukraine have taken over the building of the city council, local media reports. At least 1,000 people take part in the demonstration in the center of the city. The protests in Mariupol started in the morning as activists seized the city hall.
The Kiev authorities have ordered a crackdown on two more towns in the Donetsk region, Khartsyzk and Ilovaisk, anti-government activist Nikolay Soltsev told RIA Novosti.
The town of Khartsyzk has 60,000 residents, while 15,000 people live in Ilovaisk.
Conflicting reports of casualties are coming in from Slavyansk, which remains the scene of an armed confrontation between pro-Kiev troops and anti-Maidan protesters controlling the city.
The Donetsk region health authorities said one person has been killed on a road connecting Slavyansk with Artyomovsk, and another five injured by gunshots in Slavyansk.
It was not immediately clear whether these casualties were the ones referred to earlier Sunday by Arsen Avakov, Kiev’s acting Interior Minister, or those reported by the protesters.
Three people have been reported killed in Slavyansk after Kiev’s crackdown on the city, anti-government activist Nikolay Solntsev told RIA Novosti. He said that one anti-Maidan protester was killed and two injured, while two people were reportedly killed from the Pravy Sektor (Right sector) nationalist group.
A protest rally in the city of Mariupol in eastern Ukraine has escalated into a takeover of city hall, local media reported. This continues the string of seizures of government buildings by anti-Maidan activists in the Donetsk region.
“Military helicopters are flying overhead here, spreading panic among the people,” Kirill Kucherenko, a Slavyansk resident who witnessed Kiev’s crackdown on the city, told RT. “This morning I didn’t manage to get to work because the traffic is paralyzed, as the city is sealed off.”
Kucherenko said that Kiev authorities urged people on TV “to stay home because the security operation was launched.”
He told RT that he heard some gunshots early in the morning.
“It sounded like fireworks. But no fireworks take place at 9am,” he said.
For more about Slavyansk under siege, watch Maria Finoshina's report for RT.
Thousands of anti-Maidan protesters and those who support the new Kiev authorities are holding rival demonstrations in the eastern city of Kharkov.
The anti-government protesters who have already gathered in Svoboda (Freedom) Square in the city center, are demanding the creation of a southeastern Ukraine autonomous region and more powers for the region. They also declared their opposition to Ukraine’s presidential elections scheduled for May 25.
A video, showing anti-Maidan protesters in Slavyansk who have erected barricades in front of the regional police department, has been published online by an eyewitness.
A video showing armored infantry vehicles in the Donetsk region city of Slavyansk has been published online by Delovoy Slavyansk newspaper. The video shows at least a dozen vehicles with military personnel apparently preparing for the Kiev-ordered crackdown.
One Ukrainian state security officer was killed and five others were wounded on the side of government forces in a security operation against anti-Maidan protesters in Slavyansk, Ukraine’s east, according to the acting interior minister.
On the side of the protesters, there was an "unidentifiable number" of casualties during the operation, Arsen Avakov said on his Facebook page.
The troops besieging Ukraine’s Slavyansk all come from Western Ukraine, a source in Ukraine’s security agencies told RIA Novosti on condition of anonymity. The source also alleged that they are the entire contingent of western Ukrainian forces.
The anti-Maidan protesters have seized the city council, police and prosecutors’ office buildings in the Donetsk region town of Enakievo. The town is home to some 85,000 people.
US Vice-President Joe Biden will visit Kiev on April 22 to show Washington’s support “for a united, democratic Ukraine that makes its own choices about its future path,” the White House said.
Meanwhile, CIA director John Brennan has reportedly already visited Kiev and held a meeting with the country’s leaders, as well as with representatives of Ukraine’s security agencies, a source from Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, told Interfax news agency.
According to unconfirmed reports, Brennan influenced the decision by the Kiev authorities to crackdown on anti-Maidan activists in the eastern city of Slavyansk, the source said.
A Russian cameraman has been denied entry to Ukraine at the Donetsk airport, the Moscow bureau of a Dutch state broadcaster reports. The cameraman didn’t have enough money on him, local authorities said.
Mijn (Russische) cameraman mag Oekraïne niet in. Tegengehouden op vliegveld Dontesk. Reden: hij heeft niet genoeg geld bij zich.
— David Jan Godfroid (@djmoskou) April 13, 2014
Pro-independence protesters in Slavyansk have erected barricades, one of them near the road leading to the city of Donetsk, in response to Kiev troops besieging one of the city’s checkpoints, RIA Novosti reported. The activists say they are not going to let the troops into the city.
Entrances to the city as well as the city center have been blocked by police troops, a helicopter is flying overhead and almost all the stores have been closed. The anti-Maidan protesters have gathered on the square in front of the regional police department, burning tires from the barricades.
Earlier Kiev announced that it was launching a crackdown on the protests in Slavyansk.
Inside barricades pic.twitter.com/qN22uhxpat
— GrahamWPhillips (@GrahamWP_UK) April 13, 2014
An emergency session of Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, is due to start in a few minutes. It was called on Saturday evening in response to the crisis in the southeast of the country, where anti-Maidan protesters have started seizing governmental buildings.
The parliamentary debate comes as gunfight was reported Sunday morning in the town of Slavyansk, where protesters have taken over police and other buildings. Kiev announced Sunday it was launching a crackdown on the protests.
Coup-appointed Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has announced an “anti-terrorist operation” in the city of Slavyansk, eastern Ukraine, where anti-Kiev activists seized several governmental buildings on Saturday. He made the announcement on his Facebook page, which he regularly uses to report on his ministry’s activities.
Avakov already announced “zero-tolerance policy towards armed terrorists” in Slavyansk and the deployment of anti-terrorist troops in the city on Saturday morning. However no action materialized, as security troops reportedly refused to follow an order to attack protesters.
Russia has warned that if Kiev uses force against anti-Maidan protests in eastern Ukraine, this would undermine the effort to convene a four-party conference on resolving the crisis in the country, which would include the US, the EU, Russia and Ukraine.
#Donetsk anti-#Kiev protestors' night life.A place 2 come when u feel lonely: there is always some1 to talk to there pic.twitter.com/T0BaxW9pkS
— Maria Finoshina (@MFinoshina_RT) April 13, 2014
Ukraine is de-facto bankrupt, said Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, on a visit to Odessa. The West will help improve the financial situation in Ukraine, but will strictly monitor the use of international funds, he added.
"Ukraine is de facto bankrupt. The country suffers from extensive corruption," said Bildt, ITAR -TASS reported citing local media. He also expressed hope that the IMF recovery package will help Ukraine's economy, stressing that the West will not tolerate if the money settles in the hands of private individuals.
Bildt also said that Russia "must stop dictating terms to Ukraine," and in order to de-escalate the conflict Moscow also "must reverse the Federation Council's decision" allowing potential use of Russian troops in Ukraine, as well as "pull back troops" from Ukraine's border.
Using force to suppress pro-federalization protests in south-east of Ukraine is out of the question, presidential candidate Sergey Tigipko said.
“This situation cannot be resolved by force. The first victims will trigger a civil war,” the presidential candidate was quoted by his press service, as he urged the Parliament in Kiev to adopt measures aimed at deescalating tensions in the country.
In particular Tigipko called on PMs to announce “specific dates” for governor elections and to consider early parliamentary elections. He also urged Kiev to take measures to disarm the militias across the country.
12 April 2014
Measures needed to resolve the situation in the east of the country was discussed at an emergency meeting of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine, the Parliament's press service announced, without providing further details.
Local media speculates that one of the main options discussed was a possible declaration of martial law in particular eastern regions.
The Kiev-appointed governor of Donetsk region Sergey Taruta said "all legal means" will be used to resolve the situation, press service of the Donetsk regional administration said after Pro-federalization protesters occupied the police headquarters in the town of Kramatorsk.
"In connection with current events it was decided to increase the number of personnel of law enforcement agencies in Donetsk region. We will use all legal means to promptly restore order," said Taruta.
The Donbas people’s militia has set up road blocks at the entrances to the eastern city of Slavyansk located in the north of the Donetsk region, RIA Novosti reported. The posts resemble barricades with mounted tires and 4-5 people guarding them. The activists stop all suspicious cars heading into the city, turning around some of them including a bus with police.
“Our goal is to block the entrance to the city for provocateurs, the Right Sector and so on. We also have information that special ‘Jaguar’ security units are coming to the city from Kharkov during the following night to try to fight off the buildings we have seized” one of the activists who wished to be unnamed told RIA Novosti’s correspondent at the scene.
Worrisome violence in E #Ukraine today. #Russia again seems to be behind it. #Sloviansk
— Jen Psaki (@statedeptspox) April 12, 2014
Anti-Maidan protesters have occupied police offices in the town of Kramatorsk, Donbass region, reports Itar-TASS. Some 50 armed protesters entered the building and several shots were heard, but witnesses and hospitals did not report any injuries.
However, Ukraine’s acting interior minister Arsen Avakov says on his Facebook page that the police station is under siege and shooting continues with police firing back.
Краматорск pic.twitter.com/60sW7xTSa8
— ЄВРОМАЙДАН (@euromaidan) April 12, 2014
A spontaneous rally in front of the building has gathered around 1,000 people.
Kramatorsk is home to roughly 165,000 people.
Pro-Maidan protesters are gathering near Taras Shevchenko monument in Kharkov, Interfax-Ukraine reports, stressing that there are mostly members of ultra-right organizations, but there are also women, seniors. At the same time, there is a crowd of supporters for the region’s greater autonomy from Kiev protesting on Freedom Square, just walking distance away from the Taras Shevchenko monument.
Ukraine's acting president called an emergency meeting of Kiev's national security council on Saturday after pro-Russian separatists seized control of government buildings in the eastern city of Slavyansk.
"At 9 p.m. (1800 GMT) a meeting will take place of the Ukrainian council of security and defense because of the situation in the east of Ukraine," a spokeswoman for Acting President Aleksandr Turchinov said. (Reuters)
Police have detained four men in Kharkov train station after a sniffer dog reacted to a box they were carrying. The men refused to show what was inside. It’s believed the contents of the box resembled a hand-made explosive device. The men, aged from 19 to 33 years old, are citizens of Lvov, Kiev and Kharkov regions.
Thousands are rallying in the eastern city of Kharkov for a united Ukraine.
Харьков за единую Украину pic.twitter.com/u1KsNMBmwF
— Yarmak (@yarmakmusic) April 12, 2014
Over 100 people have rallied in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, near the Russian embassy in support of Crimea. Traditional Russian St. George’s ribbons were handed out by the organizers, while the protesters chanted: “Crimea was, is, and will be Russia,” “US hands off Ukraine,” and “Say NO to double standards!”
The regional police chief of Donetsk, Konstantin Pozhidayev, said Saturday he was quitting his post after the protesters urged him to step down.
There are no Russian agents operating in southern and southeastern Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a telephone conversation with the acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Andrey Deshchitsya. He accused Moscow of sending agents to these regions in attempt to destabilize the situation. Lavrov said that the same accusations were earlier made by Washington, but no facts were given. The Russian minister urged the current Ukrainian authorities to engage in dialogue with the authorities of the regions gripped by the unrest.
Preparations for the meeting between the US, the EU, Russia and Ukraine are proceeding, but there is no common understanding regarding its agenda or its format, Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Lavrov said, adding that Russia is waiting for the US reaction to Moscow’s proposals.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry says it is “unacceptable” that Ukraine’s cabinet of ministers will represent all regions “including Crimea.”
Donetsk special forces have supported the anti-Maidan activists, RIA Novosti reported. “We won’t use force against peaceful protesters and we won’t obey Kiev authorities because we don’t know who is legitimate there,” said a member of the special forces who arrived at the Donetsk administration building blocked by anti-Maidan protesters.
Some twenty armed men have seized a police office in the town of Krasny Liman, Donetsk region, local online news portal Novosti Donbassa reported, citing witnesses.
Around 1,000 people have been rallying in front of the police headquarters in the eastern city of Donetsk. The demonstrators urge the police ‘side with the people.’ Several activists met with the local head of police enforcers Konstantin Pozhidayev. His resignation has been among the protesters’ demands.
Ukraine’s coup-imposed president Aleksandr Turchinov has sacked the head of Donetsk Security Service over protests for bigger autonomy from Kiev.
PHOTO: Crowd at police station as 1,000s of federalization supporters rallying in #Donetskhttp://t.co/61ClrQe5jppic.twitter.com/qzHMjLgjWO
— RT (@RT_com) April 12, 2014
Several hundred people are marching for peace in Lugansk, eastern Ukraine, says RIA Novosti news agency. According to some reports in local press, the demonstration has been organized by Lugansk Buddhists.
A Russian flag has been raised over the local administration offices in Slavyansk, Interfax reports.
“I wrote to the acting Ukrainian PM three days ago saying it’s time to negotiate,” Slavyansk mayor Nelly Shtepa said. “Today all of Slavyansk is out in streets to support the activists. The Ukrainian flag over the administration building has been taken down one while the Russian was hoisted.”
The crisis between Russia and the West over Ukraine may be a hard time for diplomats, but it is party time for corporate lobbyists and government budget seekers. By drumming up a Russian threat, they can justify practically anything, from pushing through the Keystone XL pipeline project to quashing dissent over the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement to getting a greater slash of public money on military spending, RT’s Gayane Chichakyan reports.
Anti-Maidan protesters in Slavyansk seize local offices of Ukraine’s Security Service, police say.
Thousands of federalization supporters are rallying in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, reports RIA Novosti. Witnesses say the protesters have started creating an assistance group to be sent to anti-Maidan protesters in the town of Slavyansk, where several administrative buildings were occupied over the night.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his acting Ukrainian counterpart, Andrey Deshchytsia, have held discussions about the upcoming 4-way meeting between Russia, Ukraine, the US and the EU in Geneva slated for April 17.
Speaking on the phone with Lavrov, Deshchytsia urged him “to put an end to provocative actions by Russian security service agents in eastern Ukraine,” which Kiev believes are “aimed at undermining the Geneva meeting,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Appearing on Russia’s Channel One TV on Friday, Lavrov denied speculation that Russian military officers and security service agents were operating in eastern Ukraine.
Protesters in Slavyansk, eastern Ukraine, have hoisted a Russian flag over the occupied police station.
Райотдел милиции в Славянске. #Славянск#РусскаяВесна#ДНР#новостиpic.twitter.com/bucdlrBOyJ
— Sommerman (@Sommerman) April 12, 2014
Anti-Maidan protesters have stopped two riot police buses as they were trying to go from Donetsk to the town of Slavyansk, where a group of activists has taken over several government buildings overnight. The protesters are trying to convince the police officers no to go to the town and try to storm the buildings, a RIA Novosti correspondent reports from the scene.
Ukrainian central authorities claim that dangerous gunmen took over a police station in the town and threatened to use force against them. The protesters, who are already in control of the region administration building in Donetsk, say their people in Slavyansk are unarmed.
A number of administrative buildings have been taken over in the city of Slavyansk by federalist demonstrators, RIA Novosti reports, citing the leader of the People’s Militia of Donbas, Sergey Tsyplakov. He said the crowds in favor of federalization "managed to take control of administrative buildings" without using firearms and that the "Berkut base in Donetsk will be blocked from traveling to Slavyansk to liberate those buildings."
Pro-#Russian protester at barricade in #Lugansk#Luhansk@Ruptlypic.twitter.com/OnA6ekES7N
— denise reese (@denice_ruptly) April 12, 2014
Billionaire Russian gas trader Gennady Timchenko is honored by US sanctions against him in connection with his alleged ties to Kremlin, Reuters reports. Timchenko added that being targeted by Washington in such a way was actually a badge of honor.
Several thousand people are rallying in the city of Lugansk, eastern Ukraine, demanding a referendum on federalization, reports Itar-TASS. The demonstration takes place in front of the offices of the local Security Service (SBU) branch, which has been occupied by anti-Maidan protesters for the whole week.
SWAT forces have been dispatched to Slavyansk, Ukraine’s acting interior minister Arsen Avakov said on his Facebook page.
Anti-Maidan activists are taking control over the administration building in the town of Slavyansk, in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, Sergey Tsyplakov, of the People’s Militia of Donbass, told RIA Novosti. He added that the activists don’t have any weapons.
Anti-government activists in Ukraine’s eastern city of Lugansk have delivered an ultimatum to Kiev authorities, reports Rossiya24 TV channel. They demand a referendum on federalization as well as freeing all the participants of the protests who were arrested earlier. Protesters said their demands should be met within 10 days.
Meanwhile, at least 100 activists remain in the regional Security Service office.
People in Lugansk have been protesting since Monday, showing their discontent with new Kiev-appointed government.
Some 40 anti-Maidan protesters briefly took control of a prosecutor’s office in Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Life News reports. The unarmed activists entered the building on Saturday morning and spent some 30 minutes inside.
Then police arrived and made the protesters leave the building, which they did without offering any resistance. Police didn’t try to detain anyone as the protesters went away in the direction of the regional administration building, which remains under control of the protesters.
Some 15 billion cubic meters of natural gas are missing from Ukrainian gas storages, parliament-appointed Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said. The gas exists on paper, but is physically absent.
This is on top of other problems plaguing the Ukrainian gas system, including the debt for gas supplied by Russia and Kiev’s inability to pay for new deliveries.
The government cannot promise that “everything will be fine tomorrow and we will pay the whole sum,” Yatsenyuk said.
11 April 2014
The G7 group has voiced their readiness to introduce additional sanctions against Russia, if Moscow continues to “escalate” the turmoil in neighboring Ukraine, US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said.
"There is broad and strong unity within the G7 on increasing sanctions and costs in response to escalating action from Russia," he said. "In a discussion that went on for quite a long time in the room, there was no dissent in the room that it was essential that there be unity in taking action if necessary."
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine has promised a harsh response to the riots in the country, especially in the Donetsk, Lugansk and Kharkov regions.
"The Ministry of Internal Affairs will harshly respond to manifestations of deliberate destabilization, public disturbances and riots throughout Ukraine and especially in areas where special operations are conducted to resolve the situation and overcoming separatism: Donetsk, Lugansk, Kharkov," - the Ministry's statement reads.
The Ministry called on all parties to refrain from violent and aggressive actions, and for street fighters not to provoke clashes. Otherwise, the Interior Ministry has promised to arrest all violators, "regardless of the declared slogans and party affiliation."
Montenegro, Iceland, Albania, and Norway, have supported an EU Council Decision on undermining the territorial integrity of Ukraine, the Council said.
“The Council Decision [March 17, 2014] imposes a travel ban and asset freeze against persons responsible for actions which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.”
NATO and the EU should send a strong message to Russia by expanding military operations into Ukraine and Moldova, Czech President Miloš Zeman said, repeating the stance he shared with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen a day earlier, Radio Prahue reports. Zeman says that a strong message is required to show Moscow that the possibility of further acquisition of Ukrainian regions after Crimea's self-determination is unacceptable.
However the Czech prime minister, Bohuslav Sobotka is advocating pursuing diplomatic means with Russia stating on Thursday that it is not the time for "beating the war drum". He argues that NATO should not send troops to Ukraine, despite Russia's actions.
“I firmly believe that aggression against other parts of Ukraine's territory will not continue, that the Ukrainian government will succeed in maintaining the country's territorial integrity,” Sobotka said, CTK news reports.
The Netherlands has followed other NATO states in breaking off military cooperation with Russia “until further notice”, according to a statement on the defense ministry website. This means Russian troops will not participate in Dutch training courses, and talks concerning closer teamwork between the countries’ navies will be suspended. The Dutch will also not participate in an upcoming European security summit in Moscow, though will still send a delegation for Victory Day commemorations.
The EU has set up a meeting between Russia, Ukraine and the US to discuss the ongoing political crisis in Ukraine. The meeting will take place on April 17 in Geneva, Reuters reported.
"The European Union is fully engaged in the diplomatic efforts to deescalate the crisis in Ukraine and to find a political solution," the office of EU foreign policy representative Catherine Ashton said.
The US Treasury has sanctioned leading Crimean officials responsible for organizing the March 16 status referendum, which preceded the territory joining Russia.
Among the seven forbidden from entering into or engaging in economic activity with the US are acting Sevastopol governor Aleksey Chaliy, the head of the Crimean security service Pyotr Zima, and Mikhail Malyshev, the head of the electoral commission that oversaw the poll.
Additionally, the assets of Chernomorneftegaz, the former subsidiary of the Ukrainian state gas company located on the peninsula, will be frozen on US territory.
No one can say 4 sure how many participate in #Donetsk protest. Participants say they are couple of thousands pic.twitter.com/3nfbIGbsq5
— Maria Finoshina (@MFinoshina_RT) April 11, 2014
At least 100 activists are continuing to block the military unit of the troops from Ukraine’s Interior Ministry in the eastern city of Lugansk, the Interior Ministry’s press service says. The activists say that by these actions they want to avoid fatalities on both sides if government troops start seizing the Ukrainian security service’s office.
People in Lugansk have been protesting since Monday, showing their discontent with new Kiev-appointed government.
Russia has lashed out at the US State Department over its description of the Ukrainian gas debt standoff as Moscow using energy "as a tool of coercion."
“We can hardly understand the Americans’ comments and their speculation about whether a price is fair or not, because in this case these assessments come from a third party, which has nothing to do with gas market in Europe and is neither a buyer nor a seller under this contract,” Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, told reporters.
“Another thing we find difficult to understand is why nothing was said about the core part of the problem, which is not the price, but the debt,” he added. “It’s Ukraine’s debt, Ukraine’s inability to hold its part of the bargain, the lack of any tangible prospect for it… How can we continue supplying our goods when we realize that it is not likely to be paid for?”
Peskov’s comments come in response to US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, who said the US “condemns Russia's efforts to use energy as a tool of coercion against Ukraine."
Russia has no intention of annexing south-eastern parts of Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov assured.
“We cannot have such aspirations. It would contradict the core interests of the Russian Federation,” he said in an interview with Rossiya news television.
Russia wants Ukraine to be a stable nation with its current borders respected, but only if the central authorities respect the interests of all Ukrainian regions, Lavrov added.
Local media:#Ukraine special unit #ALPHA commanders refused 2 storm #Donetsk regional govt occupied by anti-#Kiev protestors 4 almost a week
— Maria Finoshina (@MFinoshina_RT) April 11, 2014
Moscow sees the way to the de-escalation of the Ukrainian crisis in stopping the Western policy aimed at legitimizing the post-Maidan government at any cost, and with no regard to the points of view of those political forces and regions of Ukraine, who disagree with Kiev, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The minister added that Russia is insisting that Ukraine adopts legislation that would guarantee its military neutrality.
Lavrov was speaking at an NGO conference in Moscow.
The Crimean Republic has approved a new constitution at an extraordinary council meeting, with all 88 MPs voting in favor. The main law of the republic may come to power on Saturday, April 12, said Crimean Parliamentary Speaker Vladimir Konstantinov. According to the new constitution, the Republic of Crimea is a democratic state which is a part of Russian Federation.
Almost all activists arrested after clashes between police and anti-coup protesters in Ukraine’s eastern city of Kharkov remained in prison, reports ITAR-TASS. The Kharkov District Court left only three people under house arrest while 62 activists have been detained for at least two months. Among those detained is Egor Logvinov, one of the leaders of the Ukrainian Eastern Bloc.
Clashes started April 6 when the pro-Russian rally proclaimed independence of the region from Kiev.
More than 30 troops of the disbanded Ukrainian riot police unit Berkut have applied for positions in a similar branch of the Moscow police, deputy commander of the Moscow OMON unit Aleskey Tsvetkov reported.
The applicants are currently taking tests to prove their professional qualities, with preliminary results indicating that all of them will pass.
Berkut troops were involved in the three-month anti-government protests in Kiev, defending government buildings from armed radical protesters. Facing the ire of the new authorities following the coup and threats of reprisals from radicals, many ex-Berkut members preferred to flee from Ukraine with their families.
The authorities in Kiev do not plan to use the first tranche of the IMF stabilization loan to repay debt to Russia, Kiev-appointed Finance Minister said in Washington.
"The money we get (from the IMF), will be divided between the reserves of the National Bank and the state budget,” Aleksandr Shlapak told reporters, Itar-Tass quotes. “We do not plan to spend it on debt repayment to Russia. At least the first part of the money.”
Earlier Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that the total debt of Ukraine to Russia is $16.6 billion.
Finance Ministers of the G7 nations discussed Kiev's financing needs at an informal meeting on Thursday.
"The discussions covered the major and recent developments in the global economy," the G7 said in a brief statement. "This included a discussion of the situation in Ukraine, its financing needs and the international response."
The US Department of Energy has blocked access to its research centers to Russian physicists, Kommersant newspaper reports.
“Russian citizens' visits to DOE facilities, including Brookhaven National Laboratory, have been postponed indefinitely," the publication quotes the letter, which was sent to Russian scientists. Allegedly the letter also states that American scientists have been banned from travel to Russia.
An exception to visit Russia is made only in three cases: if the trip is devoted to nuclear security, weapons of mass destruction or "the national interest at the highest level."
Nevertheless, the message states that sanctions will not affect those Russians who have already arrived in the US or "are on their way to the United States at the time of receipt of this letter."
The possibility of placing more sanctions on Russia over Ukraine has been discussed by US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a phone conversation, the White House said, elaborating on the details of the discussion.
“The leaders again called for Russia to move its troops back from the border region,” the office of the White House press secretary said.
Obama also blamed Moscow for inciting violence in Ukraine and destabilizing the country through "an orchestrated campaign of incitement and sabotage."
"The President underscored the need for the United States, European Union, and other global partners to be prepared to meet further Russian escalation with additional sanctions," the White House said.
Ukraine has met all the conditions needed to receive the first batch of aid from the IMF, Kiev-appointed appointed Finance Minister Aleksandr Shlapak said in Washington, where the spring session of the governing bodies of the IMF and the World Bank is taking place.
"We are here to talk more specifically about the time and conditions of support,” Shlapak told reporters. “Moreover, Ukraine has fulfilled all the conditions necessary to receive the first IMF tranche."
In order to crush the rebellion in southern and eastern regions of Ukraine, the governors newly appointed by Kiev rely on their own armed militias, Ukrainian presidential candidate Oleg Tsarev said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
“It is being carried out by the fighters, hired by local authorities,” Tsarev says. “In all areas of the south and the east these questions are supervised by first deputies newly appointed by the governors. Everyone has around 200 fighters on their allowance.”
Yet Tsarev says that not all of the fighters are from the radical Right Sector nationalist movement. He maintains that while many members of the neo-Nazi group might command the militias, many units consist of “local small criminals” that were assembled on the orders and financial support of the “oligarchs.”
He says that this type of intimidation falls in line with Kiev's government, which relies on “language of threats and individual terror,” something witnessed before in a number of post-coup countries.
“Present day authorities in Kiev with their Right Sector and the National Guard, consisting of former militants, have not invented anything new," Tsarev says.
Kiev's policy in relation to the south-east of the country, according to Tsarev, aims to “discourage not only historical memory, but also very fresh memories of 'Eurorevolution.” He says that the self-imposed government “ignored adopted laws which they passed themselves, for example, an amnesty for all participants in the riots,” when they refer to protests in the south-east as “separatist”, calling participants “bandits.”
10 April 2014
US destroyer Donald Cook enters Black Sea amid Ukraine tension
President Barack Obama has held a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss Ukrainian crisis, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. He said more details on the talk will follow but said the call was placed "just to check in on the situation."
There are not any visible signs of law enforcers’ preparing to storm the buildings seized by protesters in Lugansk, eastern Ukraine.
“There’s a non-stop demonstration [near the building], people are delivering speeches and listening. In fact, people in the street are protecting us,” Oleg Desyatnichenko, one of the leaders of demonstrators’ headquarters now housed in the SBU building told Itar-Tass.
Protesters, however, are ready for defense in case the assault begins. The rumours of a possible operation to free the seized buildings appeared after reports emerged that military hardware and National Guard troops were deployed in the city.
Metro Cash & Carry has temporarily shut its two stores in Crimea, in Simferopol and Sevastopol.
“The two Crimean stores have been closed for internal reasons. We plan to reopen the stores in the next week,” Olesya Olenytska, a spokeswoman for the German retailer in Ukraine told Reuters.
Officials at the hypermarket in Simferopol told Itar-Tass that it was closed for annual inventory. In a private conversation with the agency, the shop representatives said that after the audit, the stores would report to Metro’s Russian country office. No layoffs are being planned, but it is yet not clear when the shops will reopen.
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry and Security Service, the SBU, deny that their special forces used firearms against protesters on Kiev’s Maidan between Feb. 18 and Feb. 24.
Speaking at the session of the parliamentary commission investigating the events that took place during the uprising since November, the head of the SBU’s Alfa special forces unit said that his officers had not received an order to shoot at protesters. Vladimir Chevganyuk said that 14 Alfa troops had monitored the situation on Maidan on February 20 – the bloodiest day of the anti-government protests – but saw no armed people there.
The acting chief of the Sokol (Falcon) police task force, Aleksandr Ershov, said a pair of snipers from Lugansk subdivision were in central Kiev during the dramatic events that resulted in the deaths of over 100 people. He said they were inside the government building but did not shoot at protesters or any other people, Itar-Tass reported.
As Washington says that there is “no confirmation” that American mercenaries are operating in eastern Ukraine, Iraq war veteran Michael Prysner told RT that US mercenaries have been covertly operating all around the globe wherever there is “dirty work” needs to be done since “there is no law in the world that Pentagon recognizes.”
Watch full interview with Michael Prysner
US Secretary of state held a phone conversation with his Russia counterpart, Sergey Lavrov where John Kerry “reiterated our concerns – his concerns about escalating tensions in the east. They discussed the possibility of a quad meeting next week,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said at a daily press briefing.
The Russian Foreign ministry has elaborated on the conversation stating that this was the second phone call between the two diplomats that took place on Wednesday.
“[Washington] is taking steps to use its influence with the authorities in Kiev to encourage them to organize an internal Ukrainian national dialogue to normalize the situation in the south- east of Ukraine, to ensure a truly representative character of the constitutional reform,” the ministry said in a statement.
The foreign ministers of Russia and the US agreed that progress in these areas will contribute to the convening of the meeting in the format of "Russia-US-EU" and Ukraine in order to facilitate settlement of the Ukrainian domestic crisis.
Ukraine’s coup-imposed president Aleksandr Turchinov has ordered the protester-held local govt HQ in Donetsk to be taken under ‘state protection’ as armed personnel and armored vehicles have been reported moving into the eastern region of Ukraine.
09 April 2014
Russia has handed over to Ukraine more than 350 pieces of military equipment located on the territory of Crimea, Deputy Defense Minister General Dmitry Bulgakov told reporters. Negotiations to return some 70 vessels to the Ukrainian Navy fleet are also underway.
"As of April 9 this year, more than 350 pieces of different types of military equipment formerly owned by military units of Ukraine, have been exported from the territory of the Crimean peninsula outside the border of the Russian Federation," said Bulgakov. The Russian defense ministry would like the return to be completed by June 2014.
Washington “admires” how the authorities in Kiev are handling the ongoing tension in the south-east of the country.
“Ukrainian authorities continue to act professionally and with restraint,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday, adding that the US supports a peaceful dialogue.
Carney also accused Russia of orchestrating unrest in Ukraine, saying that “there is ample evidence, both in traditional and social media and elsewhere, that some of the protestors are being paid, that they’re not locals, and that is certainly of concern to us.”
He claimed that Russia risks further sanctions if it does not comply with US interests.
“We urge Russia to refrain from provocative actions and to instead pursue a path of de-escalation. The cost of further escalation, of further transgressions and provocations I think are clear to the Russians. The authorities exist under the executive orders the President signed to increase sanctions on Russia,” Carney said.
Washington has not found any evidence of American mercenaries from Greystone Ltd. operating in eastern Ukraine, US Secretary of State John Kerry told Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov over the phone.
Responding to Russia’s requests, the US State Department checked the allegations but “found no confirmation of such reports,” Kerry said. He added that Washington “took notice” of the allegations.
The two top diplomats discussed the situation in eastern Ukraine, with Lavrov stressing that there should be “no alternative” to involving all the regions of Ukraine in the process of constitutional reform, Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Lavrov also said that the proposed international talks on Ukraine would only be effective “if they are not aimed at discussing various aspects of some bilateral relations,” but are instead focused on “helping develop a wide and equal inter-Ukrainian dialogue with the aim of negotiating a constitutional reform acceptable to all.”
Russia will participate in a four-way meeting on the Ukrainian crisis due next week if the talks are concentrated on establishing contacts between Kiev and Ukraine’s regional authorities, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
“We want to understand what the goals of the meeting are,” he said. “The crisis in Ukraine is internal, and the Kiev authorities should invite [the representatives of] all regions, all political forces to the talks, [which should include talks] concerning the constitution, language and other points.”
He added that Moscow will join Kiev in the call to sit down at the negotiating table with all of Ukraine’s regions. But Lavrov said that if the parties are negotiating for “cheap gas” then the talks have “no point.”
However, he said that Russia is ready to negotiate gas prices with Ukraine. Lavrov said that earlier acting Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenuk said Ukraine has planned a budget for gas at $485 for 1,000 cubic meters, but now “they are saying that they won’t pay until they negotiate the price that they want.”
Ukraine’s current debt to Russia for gas stands at $2.238 billion. President Vladimir Putin has asked Gazprom to hold off on advance payments for gas, until further consultations are held
Irina Farion, an MP of nationalist Fatherland Party, has called for the deaths of citizens in Donetsk, Kharkov and Lugansk protesting against the new government in Kiev.
“The measures should be much tougher. Our people laid down their lives. That’s why those creatures that arrive here deserve only death,” Farion proclaimed.
Activists in Lugansk who captured local headquarters of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) along with an arsenal stored there announced they are not going to leave the building until nationwide referendum on federalization of Ukraine is organized.
“This is expression of the will of the people – and we want to be heard,” the group stated and strongly recommended “not to mess with active duty officers.”
Ukraine’s acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov told journalists on Wednesday that the coup-imposed government is ready to use force in the mutinous eastern regions.
"There are two solutions: a political one through negotiations or through force,” the minister said on the margins of a government meeting, threatening to resolve the situation “in 48 hours”.
Another American military ship will soon arrive for deployment at the Black Sea as the Ukrainian crisis continue, Derek Chollet, the US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs told the House Armed Services Committee. Chollet also stated that USS Truxtun’s stay in the Black Sea will be extended, “to conduct exercises with Romanian and Bulgarian naval forces.”
Headlines in Bulgaria circulate reports emerging from the Bulgarian Defense ministry, that a missile cruiser USS Donald Cook is soon to arrive to the Black Sea to join the war games.
08 April 2014
The Ukrainian Parliament has allowed charitable contributions by individuals and entities to fund the army. The bill was approved by 231 MP votes out of 226 required.
Under the new law, the Cabinet of Ministers shall determine the manner of financing of the armed forces through charitable contributions, which will be used to provide combat and mobilization readiness. Currently, state budget is the only legal means to finance the Ukrainian armed forces.
In Donetsk protesters are building barricades around the building of the regional administration they seized on Monday, RIA Novosti reported. Though Kiev authorities have promised not to storm the building the protesters are waiting for the attack.
“The night shift is about to take over. We have information that Kiev authorities have forces ready to storm the building” said head of the people’s militia of Donbass region Sergey Tsyplakov.
The European Union will set up a special support group to help Ukraine stabilize its precarious economy and political situation, an EU diplomat said on Tuesday.
The group, whose creation is expected to be announced on Wednesday, would bring together "several dozen people" to work out priorities for Ukraine, an EU diplomat said, asking not to be named. (Reuters)
Several dozens activists have broken into the prosecutor’s office in Lvov, Western Ukraine, Itar-Tass news agency reports. They were trying to meet with prosecutor Vladimir Gural, recently appointed by the coup-imposed government in Kiev. Gural was out of his office.
This is not the first demonstration against the new prosecutor, whom the activists accuse of corruption and abuse of power. His swearing-in ceremony was also disrupted by activists.
Hundreds of protesters rallied in Svoboda Square near Kharkov’s regional council building, demanding the release of 70 pro-Russian activists detained earlier. The building was surrounded by police.
Earlier, protesters pelted stones at a bus which was trying to take additional police forced to the city's downtown.
Neither militants from the ultranationalist Right Sector nor US Special Forces were involved in the crackdown on protesters in Donetsk, Kharkov and Lugansk, said Sergey Pashinsky, the acting head of Ukraine’s presidential administration.
"There are no Right Sector militants and especially no American commandos in Kharkov, Donetsk or Lugansk,"he said.
Protesters have blocked Grushevskogo Street in Kiev demanding the abolition of fees for using cargo vans and taxes on vehicle modifications. In January, Ukraine started collecting taxes for renovating imported cargo vans. On March 27, Ukraine’s parliament adopted a draft law abolish the utilization fee and tax for vehicle renovations in a first reading. The law will next be considered in a second reading.
Ukraine’s parliament has adopted a law amnestying around 26,000 people involved in political protests in recent months. Those amnestied include people in socially vulnerable categories such as minors and parents with children under 18 or with disabilities, but excludes those implicated in major crimes such as kidnapping or murder. A total of 231 out of 248 MPs present voted in favor of the law.
Protesters occupying the state security building in Lugansk, eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday denied a charge voiced by the Security Service that they had wired the building with explosives and were holding people against their will.
"There are no explosives, no hostages. We do not need hostages to get what we want," said Anton, one of the protesters who described himself as a coordinator of the action. (Reuters)
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) accuse protesters in Lugansk of having mined the service’s local offices. Threatening them with arms and explosives, they are preventing some 60 people from leaving, the service said, citing information from its anti-terror group.
The SBU urged the protesters to lay down their arms, defuse the explosives and release the hostages. A counter-operation is under way.
US Secretary of State John Kerry squarely blamed Russian agents on Tuesday for separatist unrest in eastern Ukraine, saying Moscow could be trying to lay the groundwork for military action like in Crimea.
"It is clear that Russian special forces and agents have been the catalyst behind the chaos of the last 24 hours," Kerry told lawmakers, adding this "could potentially be a contrived pretext for military intervention just as we saw in Crimea." (Reuters)
Protesters in Lugansk have gathered near the building of the regional department of the Ukrainian Security Service, the SBU, which has been seized by pro-Russian activists. Interfax-Ukraine reported that the protesters are setting up barricades and pouring flammable mixtures on them.
The speakers at the demonstration have called for creating a parliament of the Lugansk republic, choosing new MPs and establishing a new government. While the protesters are calling for a referendum to secede from Ukraine, the release of all those arrested for separatism and an amnesty for the Berkut and Alpha special forces involved in the February events at Independence Square in Kiev. The protesters are demanding an end to political persecution, as well as a meeting with the chairman of the Lugansk regional administration, Mikhail Bolotsikh.
Clashes were reported as the demonstrators pushed some journalists away from the event.
Vladimir Putin called upon Russian authorities to assist entrepreneurs from Crimea and Sevastopol.
“I count that Russian government and new Crimean ministry will help small and medium enterprises in new subjects of Russian Federation – Crimea and the city of Sevastopol,” he said.
The president believes that all the events in Crimea will open new possibilities for fair business in Russia.
Sergey Pashinsky, the interim head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, told journalists in Kiev that no nationalist militias or foreign private security companies have been deployed to the country’s eastern cities. “I do confirm with full responsibility that neither the [ultranationalist] Right Sector nor American security contractors are operating in Kharkov, Donetsk or Lugansk,” Pashinsky said.
Donetsk Mayor Aleksandr Lukyanchenko has announced that a portion of the weapons seized by the protesters in regional headquarters of the Security Service of Ukraine has been handed back to security officers after negotiations with the protesters. The SSU headquarters have been captured last night by members of the National Levy of Donbass. On Monday evening security officers managed to return to their cabinets.
At least 15 people have been injured and more than 20 arrested after the recent clashes in the southern Ukrainian city of Nikolaev, the city’s health department reports.
The city administration in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk is still under control of the pro-Russian activists, reported Interfax. Some of them seized the offices of the administration staff and provided a free canteen for protesters.
Ukrainian parliamentarians have started fighting after an MP from a conservative party accused the Rada of “inactivity in south-eastern Ukraine.”
“It’s been a long time that people [in south-eastern Ukraine] demand Russian to be the second state language in the region. But [Kiev] authorities don’t listen to them,” said MP Pyotr Simonenko.
Now Kiev calls the protesters ‘separatists’ while a month ago the same people who stormed local administrations in western Ukraine were ‘patriots.’
After these words, MPs from the Svoboda Party ran to Simonenko and began pushing him from the tribune. Acting President Vladimir Turchinov had to announce a pause in the session.
Staff members of the Kharkov city administration have refused entry to a RIA Novosti journalist on the grounds that he represents a Russian company, his agency reports. The journalist arrived for an excursion for media workers in the administration building which was earlier seized by protesters.
Meanwhile Ukrainian journalists were allowed to enter the building.
Law enforcers have opened a driveway on the Sumskaya Street near the city administration in the center of the Ukrainian city of Kharkov, reports RIA Novosti. Meanwhile, public services continue dismantling the barricades made by protesters.
Earlier, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry launched an anti-terrorist operation in Kharkov after demonstrators took control of the building and proclaimed independence for the region from Kiev.
07 April 2014
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has voiced concerns over an earlier report that Kiev’s authorities are sending troops to eastern Ukraine.
“Masterminds and participants of such a provocation are taking a big responsibility for threatening rights, freedoms and lives of Ukrainian civilians and Ukraine’s stability. We urge to immediately stop all military preparations which could lead to a war,” the ministry said in a statement on its official Facebook page.
A source in the Ukrainian Interior Ministry has told Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency that Kiev is transferring three special forces units to the east of the country – including a unit of radical Right Sector fighters, and one staffed with “Greystone" dressed in Ukrainian uniforms.
“Their role will be to suppress the uprisings as swiftly and as brutally as possible,” alleged the source.
Ukraine may be forced to return $800 million it received from Japan, which purchased its excess emissions quotas in 2009, in return for the country promising to implement over 500 greenhouse gas-reducing projects.
“We have reached a critical point in terms of fulfilling the terms of the Kyoto agreement,” said acting environment minister Andrey Mokhnik.
“After no movement in three months, the Japanese side has said it is ready to break the agreement, in which case we will have to repay the money.”
Small border traffic between Poland and Kaliningrad region (Russia) will not be halting said Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk at a meeting with residents of Bartoszyce.
“We distinguish very clearly between what is happening between ordinary people who want to visit the villages on both sides of the border for tourism and trade, and what is the background and the basis of [the Ukrainian] crisis."
Though Poland does not support Russia’s policy towards Ukraine, border officials should treat Russian citizens well, he added.
Kiev must not use force against pro-Russian protesters in southeastern Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Ukraine's acting foreign minister, Andrey Deshchytsa, in a phone conversation.
The Russian side emphasized "the need to respect the aspirations of the residents of southeastern Ukraine and the inadmissibility of the use of force to respond to legal demands [by protesters] to protect their language, culture and socioeconomic rights," the ministry said in a statement.
Activists in second-largest Ukrainian city of Kharkov have proclaimed the creation of a People’s Republic independent from the coup-imposed Kiev authorities, Itar-Tass reports. A group of local "deputies" have proclaimed they have taken all the responsibility for government activity in the eastern Ukrainian city, the agency said.
The move was proclaimed near the building of Kharkov regional administration, where massive pro-Russian rallies have been held.
All the further decisions will be made by the people of the region in the form of a referendum, the activists have announced.
About 80,000 Crimeans have already received Russian passports and only 16 have so far refused applying for Russian citizenship, a representative of the Federal Migration Service told Interfax.
According to the source, 145,000 citizens in the republic have submitted the documents needed to get a Russian Federation passport. In total, the migration service will have to issue about 2 million passports for the country’s new citizens.
Moscow insists on the removal of the Kiev-proposed draft resolution on Crimea from the agenda of UNESCO’s Executive Board session being held in Paris until April 15.
According to Russia’s representative at the organization, Eleonora Mitrofanova, discussions on Crimea are often “politicized” and some members “lack non-biased information,” cited Itar-Tass.What is even worse, in her words, is that some “interested parties” deliberately twist facts “attempting to manipulate international opinion.”
Russia, the US, the EU and the coup-imposed Kiev authorities will hold a crisis meeting on resolving the situation in Ukraine “within the next 10 days,” said the US State Department spokesperson, Jen Psaki. The direct talks were agreed upon by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry.
EU member-states are not ready to launch the procedure of Ukraine’s accession to the union, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has said in an interview with German newspaper, the Berliner Zeitung, as cited by Itar-Tass.
“Ukraine is not ready [for joining the EU]. That is the current state of affairs, and that is what it will be like in the nearest future,” he said. “However, the EU is also not ready to integrate into its member a country like Ukraine. But we offered it a close cooperation in the form of the Association Agreement.”
In Barroso’s view, Kiev needs assistance by Brussels on “its way to democracy and stability.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told his German counterpart on Monday that "international assistance" was needed in Ukraine to help carry out constitutional reform, his ministry said in a statement.
Lavrov told Frank-Walter Steinmeier in a telephone conversation that it was necessary "to take urgent efforts to organize international assistance for the soonest start of a national dialogue of all political forces and regions of Ukraine ... in order to openly agree on a mutually acceptable constitutional reform." (Reuters)
Russia called on Kiev to stop pointing the finger at Moscow after Ukraine's interior minister accused President Vladimir Putin of orchestrating "separatist disorder" in the east and southeast of the former Soviet republic.
"Stop nodding at Russia, blaming all the troubles of today's Ukraine on it," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday. It reiterated Russia's call for constitutional reform that would give Ukraine's regions more powers. (Reuters)
A law proposing the introduction of a state of emergency in Donetsk, Lugansk and Kharkov regions following the public disorder over the weekend has been submitted to the Rada.
It was put forward by Nikolay Rudkovskiy, a former Party of Regions deputy who quit his fraction and drafted the bill to impeach Viktor Yanukovich in February.
Ukraine security agency, the SBU, says it has arrested Roman Bannykh, a 29 year-old Russian intelligence officer, who it says is responsible for organizing and running a separatist cell in Lugansk, in eastern Ukraine.
“The purpose of this deep-cover cell was the overthrow of constitutional order, the carrying out of terrorist acts, and encouragement of separatist movements and destabilization in the east of the country,” says a statement on the SBU website.
Presidential candidate, Yulia Tymoshenko, has arrived in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, following large-scale protests there over the weekend.
She labeled the occupation of local administrative buildings in Ukraine a “separatist power grab,” and has called on the government to “make such actions impossible in the future.”
After meeting with politicians and supporters in Donetsk, Tymoshenko will proceed to nearby Lugansk.
Secessionist activists in Kharkov, in eastern Ukraine, have forcibly dispersed a pro-European rally in the city center, according to reports from Ukraine’s UNIAN news agency.
A group of about 100 masked men with baseball bats attacked the demonstrators, forcing them to flee, with police unable to separate the two sides.
The activists then occupied the square, and began chanting “Referendum! Referendum!” – demanding a poll that would allow the region greater autonomy from Kiev.
Watch Ruptly video on the pro-Russian rally in the Ukrainian city of Lugansk following the Sunday protest, which left up to eight people injured as demonstrators stormed the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) office.
Coup-appointed president Aleksandr Turchinov has created an anti-terrorist cabinet, and says that counter-terrorist operations will be carried out against “those bearing weapons” in the takeovers of local administration buildings in eastern Ukraine.
“What we witnessed yesterday is the second wave [after Crimea] of the special services operation by Russia against Ukraine,” said Turchinov during an address on central television.
The German government is "very worried" about events at the weekend in eastern Ukraine, which included the seizure of state buildings by pro-Russian protesters, a spokesman said on Monday.
"The latest developments in Donetsk and in Kharkov are something which we are all very worried about in the German government," said Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert. "We must urgently renew our appeal to all those in positions of responsibility to help stabilize the region and avoid such escalation." (Reuters)
In the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, a group of activists have declared their region independent from Kiev. This comes after protesters stormed a local government building last night.
PHOTO: Barricades around captured govt building in Donetsk http://t.co/Nb8hlV6DyKpic.twitter.com/MpbJ4zhkcn
— RT (@RT_com) April 7, 2014
Radical activists representing nationalist Right Sector group are attempting to storm Kiev’s Supreme Court building. They have blocked the entrances into the building and surrounded its perimeter.
The West should react strongly if Russia tries to annex the eastern part of Ukraine and should consider even sending NATO troops to Ukraine, Czech President Milos Zeman told Czech public radio Sunday.
"The moment Russia decides to widen its territorial expansion to the eastern part of Ukraine, that is where the fun ends," Zeman said. "There I would plead not only for the strictest EU sanctions, but even for military readiness of the North Atlantic Alliance, like for example NATO forces entering Ukrainian territory.”
The EU should accept that Crimea is now part of Russia, Czech President Milos Zeman told Czech radio in an on-air interview on Sunday. He added that he does not expect Crimea to return to Ukraine in the near future.
06 April 2014
The Lugansk prosecutor’s office has opened up a criminal investigation into the Sunday protests. Up to eight people were injured as demonstrators stormed the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) office, Ukraine’s Channel 5 reported.
Pro-Russian protests in Lugansk, Donetsk, and Kharkov are all attempts by foreigners to disrupt Ukraine’s presidential elections, presidential candidate Petro Poroshenko told a Ukrainian radio station.
UDAR party leader Vitaly Klitschko wants the Ukrainian government to tackle the protests taking place in the eastern part of the country. The best police forces should be working in the region to avoid the breakup of the country and disturbances of the presidential elections, Klitschko said, as quoted by the party's press service.
The protesters in Kharkov have removed the Ukrainian flag from the roof of the regional administration’s headquarters, which was seized earlier on Sunday. They raised a Russian flag in its place.
Order in the east of Ukraine – where several government buildings were seized by pro-Russian protesters – will be restored without the excessive use of force, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said.
“Control over the situation will be regained without blood. That’s the order given to the law enforcement agencies. It's true,” Avakov wrote on his Facebook page.
“At the same time, strict approach will be applied to everybody who is directly involved in attacks on government buildings, law enforcement officials, and civilians,” he added.
Protesters in Kharkov have stormed a local administration building, media reports. There are nearly 2, 000 people gathered at the square outside. Some of them are holding Russian and Soviet flags.
HAPPENING NOW: Protesters waving Russian flag from administration building window in #Kharkovpic.twitter.com/Q6nw80leLThttp://t.co/pMbVFIhD0p
— RT (@RT_com) April 6, 2014
The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) has released six anti-Maidan activists. The protesters were arrested on Saturday after they seized the agency's office in Lugansk, in the east of the country.
The decision to set the men free was reached after the governor of Lugansk region and the local SBU head went out to talk to the demonstrators.
Thousands of people in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa have violated a governmental ban on public gatherings by taking part in a rally against political repressions by the coup-imposed authorities in Kiev.
The demonstrators demanded the release of political prisoners and gathered signatures in favor of a referendum which would focus on the issue of decentralization and whether Russian should be granted the status of a state language in Ukraine.
The protesters carried Russian and Soviet flags and displayed banners which read, “Fascism won’t pass” and “We’re all Slavs! Russians are our brothers.”
Protest in #Odessa#Одесса: pic.twitter.com/1jLKWEmsie via @PanSanta#Ukraine
— Ribonned Beets (@ribonnedbeets) April 6, 2014
Ukraine’s coup-appointed President Aleksandr Turchinov has canceled a Monday business trip to Lithuania to deal with “separatist protests” in the cities of Lugansk and Donetsk, the parliamentary press service said in a statement. It was also said that Turchinov was holding an emergency meeting with the heads of security services.
Members of the ultra-nationalist group, the Right Sector, have clashed with pro-Russian protesters in the city of Kharkov. No details are known so far.
Protesters in the city of Lugansk have stormed a local administration office and a Russian flag has been hoisted over the building, reports in Twitter allege.
#Луганск#сейчас митингующие водрузили над зданием #СБУ#Российский#флагpic.twitter.com/eJa11rLSPk
— Николай Мухин (@nic_mukhin) April 6, 2014
Pro-Russian protesters in Donetsk have stormed a local administration building after breaking through a riot police cordon. Water cannon have been deployed at the scene, according to the Itar-Tass news agency.
#донецк ОГА контролируют вежливые митингующие #референдум#мариупольpic.twitter.com/dSDQthK571
— Pan Santa (@PanSanta) April 6, 2014
For more on the building seizure in Donetsk watch Ruptly video.
A council of paramilitary commanders in Kiev’s Independence Square announced that it will enforce a curfew between 01:00 a.m. and 05:00 a.m.
No public gatherings will be allowed at the square during this time without permission from the so-called Maidan Commandant’s office. People would be discouraged from visiting during the curfew, with paramilitary patrols checking IDs of those who do.
The commanders cited security concerns and the need not to disturb people living near the Maidan during night hours to explain their move.
Over the past five months the Maidan was a noisy place, with regular rallies held into the late hours. At first they were directed against the government, but since the ouster of President Yanukovich the activists remained in the square as a way to keep pressure on the new authorities.
There are reports of frequent violence in and near Maidan at night, as competing paramilitary factions camping clash there with for various reasons.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has decided to deploy some 900 military vehicles preserved for long-term storage as part of its military build-up. Among them are infantry-fighting vehicles, tractors, mobile repair stations and supply trucks.
Kiev’s failure to mount a military response to the Crimean secession made the issue of army build-up one of the hottest in political debate, with virtually every presidential candidate promising to create a powerful modern military force in the country. Many of the vehicles captured at Ukrainian military bases in Crimea by the peninsula’s self-defense forces proved to be non-operational or in bad condition.
The Crimean Parliament has ordered the nationalization of 16 resort facilities. Among them are the historic Yusupov palace, which was used as a residence by Joseph Stalin during the Allied conference in Yalta in1945, and the Zarya resort, where the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was kept under house arrest during the failed coup attempt in 1991.
05 April 2014
A subsidiary of Raiffeisen Bank – Aval, in which Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International holds 96.41 percent of shares – will close all its branches in Crimea by April 15, a bank spokeswoman told Reuters.
"Because of the changes in the region's geopolitical situation, there has been a decision to close the branches," one representative said on condition of anonymity.
Crimean authorities say that local viewers will have open access to Ukrainian channels, as long as their content complies with Russian laws.
“I think the more channels and other mass media there are in the public space, the better, as they create a more objective picture of the situation for citizens, who have all the information,” Crimea’s information minister, Dmitry Polonskiy, said during an interview on local television.
The issue arose after free-to-view Ukrainian cable channels were cut off last month, but Polonsky said the reason was the channels’ refusal to pay transmission and frequency fees to the local TV retransmission center. He added that the channels are still available through satellite packages.
Protesters have attempted to storm the prosecutor’s office in Mariupol in eastern Ukraine, after police arrested the self-proclaimed 'People’s Mayor' of the city, Dmitry Kuzmenko, who had been campaigning against the authority of the coup-appointed government in Kiev.
The Kiev regime has called the act a “flagrant violation of public order.” Kuzmenko has been charged with “undermining the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
Кузьменко свободу! В Мариуполе под стенами СБУ прошел митинг ! 05.04.14 #Мариуполь#СБУ#Украинаpic.twitter.com/9gw1WJcmb0
— НОВОРОССИЯ (@NOVORUSSIA2014) April 5, 2014
NATO is to strengthen its presence in Poland in a matter of weeks, according to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The move is intended to quell the fears of eastern European states who are currently on high alert. Tusk made the comments three days after NATO announced plans to bolster its eastern European defenses.
Acting energy minister Yury Prodan has said that Ukraine may take Russia to the Stockholm international arbitration court, if Moscow refuses to lower the gas prices it agreed between Yulia Tymoshenko and Vladimir Putin in 2009.
“If we do not agree with the Russian side, there is a provision for an appeal to Stockholm in the original contract,” said Prodan.
Russia has said that “there are no grounds for a review.”
“The current contract has been operational for five years, and was complied with by the Ukrainian gas importer Naftogaz. In terms of international commercial practice, this means that they accepted the agreement as valid,” said Gazprom representative, Sergey Kupriyanov.
Russia won’t attempt to take the first step in restoring the work of the US-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission, suspended by Washington last week due to events in Crimea.
“We have accepted this decision with regret – we are losing a communication channel with the US on a range of key issues,” said Vladimir Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov.
"But there is no chance we will do anything about it."
The Ukraine Interior Ministry says the gun with which criminal and nationalist leader, Aleksandr Muzychko, shot himself had previously belonged to road police in Ukraine.
“The pistol, or rather two pistols, were obtained during an attack on road police in Ternopol and Zakarpatsky regions, though we cannot say if Muzychko himself participated in the incidents,” Viktor Chalavan, an adviser to the Interior Minister, told the investigation committee set up by the Rada.
US Vice President Joe Biden discussed loans and energy security with Ukraine’s coup-imposed Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk, according to the White House. During a phone call, Biden promised to work closely with Ukraine and other European countries to ensure that no other nation can use energy as a political tool. The vice president also welcomed the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine.
04 April 2014
Forty percent of Americans do not approve of how President Obama has handled the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, according to a new Reason-Rupe survey. Some 37 percent of respondents said they approved of Obama’s course of action, while 21 percent said they did not know.
Thirty-one percent of respondents said the US should continue imposing limited sanctions against Russian individuals and business interests, while only 8 percent said the US should send in US troops and assets to the region.
Meanwhile, 58 percent of the 1,003 people polled said they did not want the United States to play any role in the crisis – be it economic sanctions or military action.
When asked, whether they would favor or oppose sending US troops to Ukraine, if Russia attempts to invade Ukraine, 62 percent of people polled that they would still be opposed to sending military aid and weapons.
The nationwide telephone poll was conducted from March 26-30. Full poll results, detailed tables, and methodology can be found here.
Europe “must not relax” while formulating tough economic sanctions against Russia because Moscow has not reduced tensions over Ukraine, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said, arriving for a meeting of European Union foreign ministers.
"We haven't seen real de-escalation by Russia and therefore Europe must not relax in preparing a third tier of sanctions and making sure we continue to have a strong and united response," he said.
At the same time, he said that for now it is too early for the EU to bolster sanctions against Moscow, but “they have to be ready because the situation remains very dangerous."
Hague was referring to economic sanctions that the EU has threatened to use against Russia, if Russian forces try to enter Ukraine’s eastern border.
Meanwhile, the British foreign secretary is set to meet his EU counterparts at a meeting in the Greek capital to discuss ways the EU can help Ukraine overcome its conflict with Russia.
Ukraine is holding emergency talks with European neighbors to discuss the possibility of importing natural gas from the West, Ukraine’s PM Arseny Yatsenyuk told the media.
"One way to solve the problem is reverse gas from EU countries," he said as cited by Reuters, adding that the main candidates for imports include Slovakia, Hungary and Poland.
According to Yatsenyuk, "on a technical level, the idea of reverse gas raises no problems and Ukraine hopes its European partners make the right decision.”
Russian citizens who legally arrived in Ukraine may stay on the territory of the country no more than 90 days in the 180 days period since the date of first arrival in the country, said the press service of Ukraine’s Border Guard Service. The service will start checking how Russian citizens fit these requirements from April 7.
The Border Guard Service says that in case Russian citizens violate the law, the Border Service will refuse them the right to cross the borders. If the Russian citizens stay more than three months, they will face charges, according to the Border Service.
Earlier, Russian citizens were allowed to stay in Ukraine for three months. However, after three months, they could quickly return to Ukraine after a quick exit for visa renewal.
03 April 2014
A total of 23 candidates are registered to run in the Ukrainian presidential election, which will be held on May 25, Interfax reported. The Central Election Committee received 46 applications. Some of the most well-known candidates include: former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, chocolate magnate Petr Poroshenko, nationalist leader Dmytry Yarosh, and former Vice Prime Minister Sergey Tigipko.
Barack Obama has signed the law that will provide $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine while simultaneously imposing sanctions on Russia. Later on Thursday, the US president will meet with congressmen to discuss further potential measures to rein in Moscow.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has labeled Washington’s decision to suspend the US-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission last week as “illogical.”
“For the US to punish Russia for supporting a free referendum in Crimea that complied with all international standards, is not so much a cause of regret, as a surprise in its lack of logic,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich.
“By letting emotion guide their reaction to the situation in Crimea not going their way, the Americans are using the principle of ‘the worse it is, the better it is,' without thinking about the consequences.”
The commission was central to cooperation between the two countries on most key issues.
Alexander Vershbow, the deputy secretary-general of NATO, said the organization “will respect” Ukraine’s potential decision to remain a non-aligned state, but insisted that Kiev has a “right” to join the alliance. Speaking in Vilnius during a ceremony to mark Lithuania’s entry into NATO ten years ago, the former ambassador to Russia was adamant that the US has no intentions of “honoring Russia’s veto” on its neighbors joining the organization.
OSCE media freedom representative, Dunja Mijatovic, has hit out at the Ukrainian authorities for refusing to let Russian journalists through their border.
“The situation around Ukraine is a particular source for concern. I have asked Ukrainian authorities to desist from these unacceptable practices several times,” Mijatovic told Russia’s ITAR-TASS news agency.
The European official also said that those refused entry must be given a chance to appeal the decision.
Liberal Russian journalist, Roman Super, was deported from Odessa in Ukraine earlier this week, after reporting from Crimea.
German courier company Deutsche Post has suspended mail services to Crimea, said a representative from the Bonn-headquartered organization, reports ITAR-TASS.
According to the company’s representative, Ukrainian post informed Deutsche Post that they have problems sending mail to Crimea and asked that receipt of parcels and letters be suspended.
Items with Crimean addresses are simply sent back, he added.
In their attempts to “retrieve losses in Crimea,” the US does not want to listen to Russia’s fears concerning missile defense, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov.
Moscow regrets that the White House cannot draw a line between the long-term interests of their country and tactical objectives, he added.
“I don’t think that in the short-term perspective we will be able to restore a productive dialogue on missile defense,” said Ryabkov.
Earlier, US authorities spoke about suspension of missile defense cooperation with Russia over the ongoing situation in Ukraine. The United States also suspended NASA’s work on a number of joint projects with Russia, apart from ISS cooperation.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry is still waiting the Ukrainian authorities’ reaction on recent acts of vandalism on memorials to famous citizens of the city of Sumy in north-eastern Ukraine.
Among the monuments which were vandalized are those to Soviet pilot, Fedor Dudnik, a hero of the Soviet Union, who defended Moscow and Kiev against the Nazis in the WWII, as well as the monument to Souren Kaftaryan, the first Doctor of Science in the region.
Moscow considers it an offence towards WWII veterans.
В Сумах фашисты разбили мемориальные доски выдающихся людейГерою #СССР Федору Дуднику и доктору наук Сурену Кафтаряну pic.twitter.com/jt3X2bdq4k
— Николай Мухин (@nic_mukhin) April 1, 2014
NATO isn’t considering the question of Ukraine joining the bloc, said Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslav Sikorski, reported Itar-Tass.
According to Sikorsky, NATO only welcomes those members to the alliance which want to be in NATO and want to contribute its security.
The EU and Kiev should not stir up a conflict surrounding Russian drills launched in the south of the country, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov believes.
“There are no restrictions on Russia’s troop displacement on Russian territory,” he added.
In March, Russia’s Defense Ministry launched massive artillery drills in the southern military district, which involved some 8,500 troops and a large amount of hardware. It coincided with war games conducted by the country’s Airborne Troops.
All Ukraine’s regions should be taking part in the constitutional process, said Russian FM Sergey Lavrov during a press-conference in Moscow.
“We are all convinced that constitutional reform should be proper, not “cosmetic,”it is necessary to stabilize the situation in Ukraine and overcome the crisis,” he added.
Lavrov reminded about the February-21 agreement which was signed by ousted president Yanukovich and opposition leaders, including Arseny Yatsenyuk and Vladimir Klitschko, on ending the political crisis in the country. The agreement was witnessed by EU foreign ministers from Germany and Poland.
Russia calls upon the world’s powers to abide by the rules of the Montreux Convention, which allows a warship of any non-Black Sea country to stay in the region for only 21 day, said Russian FM Sergey Lavrov during the press-conference in Moscow.
“US warships have recently extended their presence in the Black Sea several times,” he said, “This extension didn’t always obey the rules of the Montreux Convention," he added.
According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Russia asked NATO for detailed explanations of its plans to boost its military presence in Eastern Europe.
"We addressed questions to the North Atlantic military alliance. We are not only expecting answers, but answers that will be based fully in respect of the rules we agreed on," Lavrov told reports at a joint briefing with his Kazakh counterpart.
Eight military exercises will be held in Ukraine with NATO members, RIA Novosti quoted the head of the Information Policy Department of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Evgeniy Perebeynis, as saying. Ukraine’s parliament previously approved the decision to host foreign troops for multinational military exercises.
02 April 2014
Ukraine’s state health commission has withdrawn the sale of Russian pastry, cheese, and fish products, due to Moscow's non-compliance with Ukrainian legislation, according to the authority’s website.
Among the banned products are those from chocolate factories Red October and Russian Chocolate, candy factory Rot Front, Babaev branded food, Vychunay-Rus herring, Roscon canned fish, and Lactalis Istra melted cheese.
Russian products were banned under the request of Svoboda parliamentary faction head Oleg Tyagnibok.
Over 2,000 Ukrainian troops have been withdrawn from the territory of Crimea and sent back to Ukraine, according to Andrey Parubiy, the secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council. About 200 National Guard personnel remain on the republic’s territory to guard a research institute and prisons, he added.
In response to Ukrainian events, the US has “temporarily suspended several projects planned under the auspices of the US-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission, as well as some cooperative law enforcement activities,” reports the State Department website. Funding for these activities will instead be used to contribute to a package of US assistance to Ukraine, the statement adds.
The republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol have become part of Russia’s southern military district, reports RIA Novosti. A decree to that effect was signed by President Vladimir Putin and comes into force today.
Two more candidates have registered to take part in the Ukrainian presidential election, bringing the total number of candidates to 23, the Ukrainian National News agency reports.
Moscow is disappointed by European anti-racism watchdog’s “demonstrative silence” about well-known acts of violence and discrimination against non-ethnic Ukrainians, primarily Russian-speaking people, by the new ‘Kiev government,’ the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
At the same time, the statement by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance regarding alleged discrimination of the Tatars and Ukrainians in Crimea causes bewilderment.
“As is known, the measures that have been taken since the creation of new constituent entities within the Russian Federation are aimed at restoring the whole range of political, social-economic and cultural rights of representatives of all peoples living in Crimea. Russian, Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar have been recognized as the official languages in the republic,” the ministry said.
Switzerland has supported the European Union’s sanctions against Russia over Ukraine. The country, not a member of the EU, imposed a visa ban and asset freeze against 33 Russian officials who had earlier been hit by Brussels’ sanctions.
The ‘black-listed’ officials and lawmakers are prohibited from using brokers or other “financial intermediaries” in Switzerland to conduct any new business. They also won’t be permitted to transfer any assets they hold outside the EU to Swiss banks, reports AP.
The coup-appointed Kiev authorities have put Crimea’s First Vice-Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliev on their wanted list. According to the Security Service of Ukraine, Temirgaliev is wanted for “actions aimed at the violent change or overthrow of constitutional order and takeover of government power.”
#Lavrov expresses concern in phone talks with Kerry over decisions taken at NATO meeting, says they are unproductive http://t.co/F9F12QAPMx
— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) April 2, 2014
The NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has voiced concern at the Russian troop buildup in areas close to Eastern Ukraine’s border, saying that Russian soldiers are at a very high state of readiness.
Rasmussen warned Russia that to intervene militarily in Ukraine would be an historic mistake and would result in Russia’s further isolation; although he stressed that military counter-options were not on the table.
He urged Moscow to start dialogue with the new authorities in Kiev.
The remarks were made in Brussels, where NATO is holding a three-day session mainly focusing on the Ukrainian crisis.
Over 75,000 Crimeans have applied for Russian passports in the past two weeks, Federal Migration Service official, Fyodor Karpovets, has told reporters.
Over 25,000 people have already obtained Russian Federation passports since the process began 14 days ago.
“So far, only six residents have submitted documents to retain their Ukrainian citizenship,” Karpovets added.
Observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) have begun to arrive in Khrakov, Ukraine to monitor socio-political developments in the region and find ways out of the current crisis, the city’s press service reported.
Ukraine is not asking NATO to provide it with weapons, acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Deshchytsa stated at a news conference after meeting with NATO ministers. He added that Ukraine provided NATO members with a list of "technical equipment" it required for the nation’s armed forces.
Ukraine is preparing to file a lawsuit against Russia in the International Court of Justice with the intent to return Crimea back to Ukraine, acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Deshchytsa stated.
01 April 2014
Right Sector members will continue to arm themselves if the situation at the Ukrainian border and Kiev doesn’t change, said the head of the organization in the Kiev region, Igor Mazur. The party's weapons are either personal or registered, or “rented from friends," Interfax reported him as saying. “The weapons were not given to us” so the government cannot demand that the group surrenders them, he added.
The leader of the radical Right Sector movement, Dmitry Yarosh, has registered as a candidate for the upcoming presidential vote. Moscow earlier placed Yarosh on an international wanted list and charged him with inciting terrorism.
In total, 21 candidates have so far registered to battle for the seat of Ukrainian president. Seventeen individuals have been refused registration. April 4 is the last day to submit documents.
Ukraine is not going to denounce the four Russian-Ukrainian agreements on the Black Sea Fleet and is set to take the issue to international courts, Justice Minister Pavel Petrenko has said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Russia's Lower House voted to denounce the deals on the status of the naval base in Sevastopol.
The results of an internal investigation have shown that police acted within the framework of the law during the operation to detain Aleksandr Muzychko, the coordinator of ultra-nationalist group Right Sector, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has said.
The radical militant, who made media waves in Ukraine thanks to videos of him bullying officials and threatening to hang Avakov, was gunned down in March in a police raid aimed at arresting him.
Kiev-Moscow relations depend on Ukrainian foreign policy in regard to non-bloc status http://t.co/Wza1BIu7PU#Ukraine
— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) April 1, 2014
Ukraine has lost territorial integrity as a result of complicated internal processes while Russia had nothing to do with it, the Russian Foreign Ministry says in a statement.
“As for allegations that Russia violated the 1994 Budapest memorandum it is necessary to state the following. The current ‘government’ in Kiev, which came to power as a result of an anti-constitutional coup, has itself - by its policies, primarily towards national minorities - undermined Ukrainian integrity,” the statement reads.
Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, has approved a decision by acting President Aleksandr Turchinov to allow foreign military personnel, including from the US, to enter the country in 2014 for international drills.
The exercises will take place between May and November, said Aleksandr Kuzmin, a member of the parliamentary subcommittee on national security and defense.
“We expect that over 7,000 troops will take part in the drills. The exercises will be held in South Ukraine, in the Black Sea waters, and, also in Western Ukraine,” he said, according to RIA Novosti. The MP added that the naval forces, marines and coastal guards who will participate “will have stories to tell their partners about the events in Crimea.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry is “expecting a reaction” from Western powers on the draft bill introduced in the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada) that allows “preventative detention” of individuals deemed a threat to the “national interests and territorial integrity of the country,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The Russian side expects a reaction from the Western partners to these initiatives by the new Ukrainian authorities that ‘takes great care’ of the development of democratic processes, including of those in the post-Soviet space,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry added it awaits an “appropriate” reaction from human rights groups of Russia, Ukraine and other countries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he will consider the issues of rehabilitating the Crimean Tatars, granting them the status of ‘repressed ethnic group’, and legalizing property and lands that some of the Tatars have laid claim to since their return to the peninsula in the early 1990s.
The issues were raised by President of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, who met with Putin on Tuesday.
Putin promised Minnikhanov that all the points will be “examined in detail,” asking the Russian Tatar leader to assist the government bodies in working out the necessary laws.
Russia warned Ukraine against integration with NATO on Tuesday, saying Kiev’s previous attempts to move closer to the defense alliance had had unwelcome consequences.
"[Past attempts] led to a freezing of Russian-Ukrainian political contacts, a headache between NATO and Russia and ... to a division in Ukrainian society," the Russian Foreign Ministry said on the same day as NATO foreign ministers were meeting in Brussels. (Reuters)
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he sees no possibility of Ukraine becoming a NATO member state. However, the German FM can imagine some sort of intensive cooperation with Ukraine within the framework of the NATO-Ukraine Council, “I don't see [however] any path leading towards NATO membership," Steinmeier said during a news conference.
The German FM recalled the words of Ukraine’s interim prime minister, Arseny Yatsenyuk, who spoke “with great caution” about the NATO perspective for Kiev. Also, he pointed out that US President Barack Obama is saying that currently Ukraine is not on the way to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada) has ordered the Interior Ministry and the Intelligence Service to disarm illegal paramilitary groups immediately.
The bill, approved by 256 MPs, was submitted by Sergey Sobolev, the head of the Batkivshchina (Fatherland) Party in the Rada.
“The Interior Ministry and the Intelligence Service gave people two weeks to hand in the illegally possessed weapons,” Sobolev said, according to ITAR-TASS. “Thousands have given their weapons away. That campaign has now expired. If the bill is passed, then each policeman will know for sure how to act upon seeing armed people.”
Gunmen belonging to the nationalist Right Sector movement have left the Dnepr Hotel in Kiev, where they had their unofficial headquarters, ITAR-TASS reports. The activists have taken their backpacks out of the hotel, loaded them on a truck and left for a suburban recreation facility.
Overnight, Ukrainian police held talks with the Right Sector, urging the movement’s members to disarm. The results of the negotiations are not yet clear.
31 March 2014
Russia has condemned the act of vandalism perpetrated earlier by a Euromaidan activist in Odessa.
“Such messages do not cause anything but resentment …This is the desecration of the memory of millions of people who fought against the Nazis and an insult to the memory of millions of Ukrainians, including those who gave their lives in the struggle against the Nazi occupiers. This is definitely a complete disregard of historical memory,” said Russian Foreign Ministry commissioner for human rights, Konstantin Dolgov.
Alena Balaba, press secretary of the Udar party, has thrown several St. George’s ribbons into the eternal flame commemorating the navy and filmed the happening. She also commented on her actions on her Facebook page, saying that St. George’s ribbons are “a far-fetched symbol invented by narrow minded Moscow PR managers, not ‘a ribbon of victory’.” The ribbons commemorate the heroes of World War II.
A member of the ultra-nationalist Right Sector party has opened fire in Kiev’s Independence Square and injured three people, witnesses told Ukrainian news agency UNN. The man reportedly wanted to bring alcohol through Maidan cordons, but was stopped by a self-defense squad. The gunfire wounded two members of the self-defense forces and a passer-by, according to UNN. The man fled the scene. Police have arrived at the spot and are talking to witnesses.
Russia’s policy towards Crimea has found support among US lawmakers. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has said that she understands “the Crimea thing.” Its "done" and she accepts that the region is now under Moscow's control.
"The Crimea is dominantly Russian, a referendum was passed. That, I think, has been done," Feinstein said on CNN's "State of the Union."
She also dismissed the continued outcries over Crimea joining Russia as diplomatic posturing.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke about ways to resolve the crisis in Ukraine by telephone on Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"They discussed steps to help resolve the crisis situation in Ukraine," the ministry said, describing the phone call as a follow-up to the US and Russian diplomats' meeting on the Ukraine crisis in Paris on Sunday.
The White House also said that Kerry and Lavrov had agreed to speak again about ways to resolve the crisis in Ukraine but that no date for such a conversation had been set. (Reuters)
Ukraine’s Central Election Commission has registered seven more presidential candidates, its press-service reported.
Ukrainian businessman and pro-European MP, Pyotr Poroshenko, from the UDAR Party, Ukraine’s former Prime Minister and current leader of theBatkivshchina (Fatherland) Party, Yulia Tymoshenko, First Secretary of the Ukrainian Communist Party’s Central Committee, Pyotr Simonenko and leader of the Radical Party, Oleg Lyashko, have been approved as candidates from their parties.
Ex-head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Nikolay Malomuzh, Deputy head of the Party of Regions, Oleg Tsarev, and Kharkov businessman, Andrey Grinenko, will run for president as self-nominees.
A constitutional reform in Ukraine, aimed at guaranteeing the lawful interests of the people of all the country’s regions, is crucial for resolving the Ukrainian crisis, Russian President Vladimir Putin told German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the phone on Monday.
According to the Kremlin press-service, Putin and Merkel also discussed the “possibility of international assistance for the recovery of stability” in Ukraine
Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, later said in a statement that Putin “informed the chancellor about the partial withdrawal of Russian troops he ordered from the eastern border of Ukraine.”
The lower chamber of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, has denounced the Russian-Ukrainian agreements on Black Sea Fleet, saying that the March 18 accession of the Republic of Crimea into Russia de facto terminated the deal.
A total of 443 out of 450 MPs voted in favor of the move, far exceeding a simple majority of 226 votes.
“From now on the status and the conditions of the Black Sea Fleet’s stationing in the city of Sevastopol will be regulated within the constitutional framework of the Russian Federation,” said the head of the Duma Committee on the Affairs of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Leonid Slutsky, calling the vote “historic.”
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Crimea was a “crude violation of the rules of the international community,” Reuters reported.
The ministry’s coup-imposed spokesman, Evhen Perebiynis, said it categorically protested “the visit of an official person to the territory of another state without preliminary agreement.”
Legal issues may arise due to the denunciation of the Treaty about the Black Sea Fleet, but Moscow is ready to discuss them with Kiev, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said.
“Legal, financial , property and other issues will likely arise” due to the unilateral termination of contracts by Russia, he said.
Karasin promised that Moscow will try to solve these issues with the government in Kiev “which, we hope, will be formed by democratic, constitutional means , which will represent the whole population of Ukraine , not only in words but also in deeds to ensure respect and observance of fundamental human rights , including the rights of Russian-speaking residents.”
Ukraine's Ministry of Interior, General Prosecutor's Office and the Security Service of Ukraine plan to disclose on Thursday information about the suspects in murders during the unrest in Kiev last month, said Arsen Avakov, the country's Minister of Interior.
On his Facebook page Avakov says authorities will “provide an interim report on the investigation into the massacre. We will show and tell only that which will not harm the process of further investigation, including information about the detained suspects from law enforcement agencies and from the organized criminal gangs.”
30 March 2014
Ukraine will be able to receive the IMF and other international organizations loans only after Kiev provides the lenders with a stabilization plan for the country’s economy, Arseny Yatsenyuk the self-installed prime minister said, UNN reports.
"It is about 13 billion US dollars, which we can get after honestly and openly declaring to Ukraine and the world, what happens to public public finances, in which economic 'abyss' we are currently in and how we're going to get out of it ," Yatsenyuk said.
The politician says that drastic measures have to be introduced to strengthen the economy, which Yatsenyuk says many Ukrainians will not approve, citing the levy increases on alcohol and tobacco as well as the tax hike on big business.
Ukraine’s Central Election Commission has registered two more presidential candidates, its press-service reported.Former MP Valery Konovalyuk and Interagroexport CEO Vladimir Saranov will run for president as self-nominees. Additionally, the commission received registration documents for two more potential candidates:Vasily Kuibida, the leader of the People’s Movement of Ukraine (Rukh), and Vasily Tsushko, former head of the country’s Antimonopoly Committee, reports Itar-Tass. So far, seven candidates have been officially registered as runners for the May 25 election.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State are meeting in Paris to discuss the situation in Ukraine. The closed-door gathering is at the residence of the Russian Ambassador to France.
On Saturday, the two diplomats had a telephone conversation initiated by the American side.
After protocol photo and tête-à-tête meeting #Lavrov and Kerry began talks in expanded format pic.twitter.com/1r6tGn6um9
— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) March 30, 2014
Clashes have erupted in the city of Odessa, a major seaport on the Black Sea, where anti-government activists pelted eggs at Maidan supporters.No serious injuries have been reported.
Earlier, two separate rallies were held in the city on Sunday. According to police, up to 3,000 anti-Maidan activists rallied against the coup in Kiev and political repressions and demanded a referendum on the federalization of Ukraine, reports Itar-Tass.
Meanwhile, up to 2,500 government supporters gathered at Duke de Richelieu Monument to protest against the destabilization of the situation in the country and then, holding a huge, kilometer-long Ukrainian flag they marched through central Odessa.
Thousands of protesters have gathered in Kharkov to demand the creation of an autonomy entity in southeastern Ukraine.
"We call to join forces in the southeast and create a coordinating council and a united front to oppose the coup [-appointed government in Kiev]" their statement said, as read by one of the leaders of Kharkov’s civil forum, Yury Apuhtin. "Our place in this state [Ukraine] we see as a historically formed southeastern autonomous region."
Apukhtin said that the demonstrators in Kharkov have already agreed on joint action with the leaders of rallies in Donetsk and Lugansk.
The protesters handed an appeal to the Russian diplomatic mission, asking Russia to ensure a fair conduct of the referendum on autonomy and the federalization of Ukraine’s southeast. The column of demonstrators then moved to the consulate of Poland, where they demanded to end Western intervention in Ukraine.
The participants also demanded to release activist Ignat Kromskoy from house arrest. He was detained on charges of "organizing mass riots" and participation in the regional administration building clearance from supporters of the Kiev Maidan on March 1.
29 March 2014
Russia and the US are continuing their consultations on the Ukrainian crisis, however there is no unified plan, said Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Ryabkov.
"There is no unified plan. We have a different vision of the situation,” he said adding that “to find a general solution to the problem we need regular consultations."
"In a press release after the telephone conversation between Presidents [Vladimir] Putin and [Barack] Obama the White House incorrectly presented its contents. US gave comments on our proposals concerning Ukraine. To present it as though the work is being carried out according to American proposals is incorrect."
The nation-wide congress of the Crimean Tatars has decided to address several international organizations in order to get support for their push to create an autonomy in the Crimea.
“The Kurtulaj of the Crimean Tatar people appeals to the UN, Council of Europe, EU, OSCE, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the parliaments and governments of countries to support the rights of the Crimean Tatar people to self-determination in the form of autonomy of the Crimean Tatar people on its historic territory – in the Crimea,” the ruling by the congress said.
Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov will meet his US counterpart, John Kerry, in Paris on Sunday to discuss ways to resolve the Ukraine crisis, with both Russian Foreign Ministry and the US State Department confirming the information.
The talks follow Russian President Vladimir Putin's call to US President Barack Obama on Friday to discuss the situation in Ukraine.
Travelling to the US from Saudi Arabia, US Secretary of State John Kerry has changed his route, instead heading to Europe to attend the talks on Ukraine. Kerry should arrive in Paris for a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The time and date of the meeting are being negotiated, a source in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Itar-Tass after the two officials talked on the phone on Saturday.
The nationalist party Svoboda (Freedom) has also nominated its leader Oleg Tyagnibok for president.
The former ruling Party of Regions has nominated the ex-governor of Kharkov region, Mikhail Dobkin, for president.
The Batkivshchina (Fatherland) party has nominated its leader, Yulia Tymoshenko, as candidate for president at its 12th congress. According to Interfax-Ukraine, the party voted unanimously for Tymoshenko. A total of 482 delegates took part in the vote.
Tymoshenko made a statement at the party meeting urging "people to unite," adding in Russian. "Stop fighting, you need to find the words, the principles that will give new energy to the country."
She added that she intends to “lead a personal war against oligarchs." Tymoshenko also believes that Ukraine "should join the EU as soon as possible."
She said that "in present circumstances" it is necessary for Ukraine to integrate into NATO, but at the same time, "Ukraine should continue to build an effective army."
Crimean Tatars are discussing creating a national autonomous republic, Refat Chubarov, head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, told an extraordinary meeting of the informal representative body. He said the Tatars are an indigenous people of Crimea and should be the titular nation in the autonomous republic, modeled on the national entities in countries with a federal structure. The meeting was attended by the head of the republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, and the Chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia, Mufti Ravil Gainutdin. In turn, Minnihanov promised to contribute to the organization of the meeting between the leaders of Mejlis and the country's leadership to discuss the issue.
Ukrainian politician and leader of the UDAR (Strike) party, Vitaly Klitschko announced that he had decided not to take part in the presidential election, backing another "candidate from the democratic forces,"'chocolate king' Petr Poroshenko, whom he described as a “candidate with highest chances to win.” Instead, Klitschko will participate in the race for Kiev mayor, he said at his party convention. He and Poroshenko signed a “union declaration,” which presupposes a unified election campaign. Klitschko also called on Yulia Tymoshenko, a Ukrainian former prime minister who is also going to run for Ukrainian president, to support Poroshenko.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry have continued their discussion of the Ukrainian crisis in a phone conversation that took place at the American’s initiative on Saturday. Following the phone call between the presidents of the two countries, Lavrov and Kerry agreed “to discuss definite options of the collaboration in the nearest future” and planned the schedule for further contacts on this issue, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
28 March 2014
Egypt abstained during the vote on the resolution on territorial integrity of Ukraine at the UN General Assembly because of the double standards the international community implements in addressing emerging crisis situations, the country’s Foreign Ministry said.
The current system of international relations changed after the bipolar world order of the Cold War ceased to exist, Mootaz Ahmadein Khalil, permanent representative of Egypt to the United Nations, said.
“There’s a contradiction between the will of the peoples and provided legal framework,” which will see more unsolvable conflicts erupting until a balance between the two is found, he added.
"Egypt abstained from voting on the resolution to emphasize the urgent need to reform the current international system, which should be more balanced and avoid double standards," Khalil stressed.
Egypt was one of the 58 nations to abstain during the vote on Thursday, with the resolution reciving support of 100 UN members, while 11 voted against it.
The interior minister in Ukraine’s coup-imposed government, Arsen Avakov, has commented on demands that he resign voiced by the ultranationalist Right Sector after one of their leaders, Aleksandr Muzychko, was killed in a police raid on March 24.
“Resignation wasn’t a problem for me three days ago. It’s not a problem now. The problem for me is where this country will go. Will we move in the direction of the victorious gangs like in Somalia or in the direction of law and order? I prefer law and order,” Avakov was cited as saying by the RIA-Novosti news agency.
Avakov said that if he had wanted to be popular he “wouldn’t have taken up this job.”
The bullets that killed prominent Ukrainian neo-Nazi Aleksandr Muzychko (nicknamed Sashko Bilyi), and injured a special forces officer, were fired from the same gun, said Vladimir Evdokimov, the country’s first deputy interior minister.
“The bullet removed from Bilyi’s body and the bullet extracted from the arm of our Sokol (Falcon) servicemen, were fired from the same weapon, which was in Muzychko’s possession,” he told Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
However, Evdokimov urged everybody to wait until the official report from the experts and not jump to hasty conclusions.
Muzychko was shot dead during a police raid against his gang in the Ukrainian city of Rivno on March 24.
Evodkimov said the police had intended to detain Muzychko, but “everything went wrong” as he resisted arrest.
Moscow has responded with similar restrictive measures to the expansion of the sanction lists of Russian politician and businessmen by the US, EU and Canada, Aleksandr Lukashevich, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, said.
The names of the sanctioned Western citizens won’t be made public as they’ll “find out that they’re blacklisted by Russia when they’ll be crossing the border,” a high-ranked source in the ministry told RIA-Novosti news agency.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office has launched another criminal case against Viktor Yanukovich, who was ousted from presidency in a coup in late February, Itar-Tass news agency reports.
The criminal proceedings were opened under a legal article regarding actions aimed at forcibly changing or overthrowing the constitutional system or at the seizure of power.
The move follows Yanukovich’s public comments Friday, in which he described the current authorities in Kiev as illegal and urged referendums to define the status of each region within Ukraine.
Yanukovich is also wanted by the new Ukrainian government on suspicion of involvement in mass killings during the Maidan riots in Kiev.
Moscow says it’s stunned by the claims of US President Barack Obama that a decision on independence of Kosovo from Serbia was voted on in a referendum and after reaching consent with the UN and neighboring countries.
"This claim on the part of the US president cannot but cause astonishment, since there was no plebiscite in Kosovo, all the more so a plebiscite coordinated with the international community," the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "A decision on breaking away from Serbia was taken by the ‘parliament’ in Pristina in 2008."
"However, we can only agree that destiny-making decisions should be taken through referendums, the way it was done in Crimea, not in private," the Foreign Ministry said.
The denunciation of the Russian-Ukrainian agreement on the Black Sea Fleet by Moscow will make the presence of the Russian navy in the Crimea illegal, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Evgeny Perebiynis said.
If the move is executed Russia “would have to think about the withdrawal of the Black Sea Fleet," Perebiynis was cited as saying by Interfax-Ukraine.
Earlier Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry sent a note to the Ukrainian Embassy in Moscow informing Kiev of Russia’s intention to denounce the agreement on the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s presence in Crimea.
The leader of the Radical Party, Oleg Lyashko, and businessmen, Oleg Grinenko, has submitted documents required to be registered as a presidential candidate to the Ukrainian Central Election Commission.
Both applicants have provided a complete package of papers and paid the required bail of 2.5 million hryvnas (around $220 000), Interfax-Ukraine news agency reports.
Ten people have expressed their desire to run for Ukrainian presidency on May 25, with deadline for registration of candidates expiring on Sunday.
US Congress Representative Dana Rohrabacher has spoken up for Moscow’s policy towards Crimea.
The people of Crimea have spoken and voted resoundingly to leave Ukraine and join the Russian Federation, he said on Thursday before the House voted 399 to 19 to offer aid to Ukraine and impose sanctions on Russia. To stand for the sanctity of Ukraine’s national borders is to stand for “soil and entities” over individual rights and self-determination, the Washington Post reported him as saying.
He was joined by Representative Alan Grayson of Florida, who complained as the House Foreign Affairs Committee drafted its Russia sanctions bill on Tuesday.
“Why are we speaking about naked aggression, why are we speaking about stealing Crimea, why are we speaking about bullying, or the new Soviet Union, or thuggery, or audacious power grabbing, or Bully Bear Putin, or Cold War II?” Grayson said. “We should be pleased to see, pleased to see, when a virtually bloodless transfer of power establishes self-determination for two million people somewhere in the world.”
Anatoly Gritsenko, an independent Ukrainian MP, announced his intention to run for presidency. He will be proposed by the Citizen Stance party, which doesn’t have any seats in the parliament.
The MP will file the paperwork necessary for joining the campaign on Saturday.
Russia decided to start the process of denouncing several treaties with Ukraine to reflect the change of status of the Crimean Peninsula, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Among them is the 1997 agreement on the partitioning of the Soviet Black Sea fleet, the treaty on Ukraine’s hosting of Russian Black Sea Fleet and the 2010 Kharkov Accords, which extended the presence of the fleet in Ukrainian territory beyond 2017 and provided a gas price discount to Kiev in return.
The decision to denounce the treaties was taken at a session of the Russian National Security Council chaired by President Putin.
Each Ukrainian region should hold a referendum on its future, believes ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich.
“Don’t let the usurpers use you. Demand a referendum on the states of each region in Ukraine,” he said in an address to Ukrainians, cited by ITAR-TASS.
“The usurpers do not have a mandate from the people of Ukraine and they have no right to strip every Ukrainian of his vote through unconstitutional amendments to the legislation, including the one regulating elections of the president,” he argued.
Right Sector halted the planned storming of the Ukrainian parliament building, which they wanted to stage to get MPs to fire Interior Minister Arsen Avakov. But several dozen of the radical activists continue picketing in front of the building and checking the IDs of lawmakers entering it. Several other groups of Right Sector fighters surround the Verhkovna Rada.
Earlier on Thursday some 250 radical activists came to the parliament to demand resignation of Avakov, whom they accuse of ordering “a political assassination” of Right Sector regional leader Aleksandr Muzychko. He was gunned down in a special police raid as the officers tried to arrest him.
Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are reportedly mulling a ban of Right Sector, which played a key part in an armed coup which ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich last month.
27 March 2014
Ukraine's parliament has voted in favor of an anti-crisis law accepting austerity measures demanded by the International Monetary Fund as part of a $14-18 billion bailout package.
Earlier, parliament deputies failed to support the draft law despite the entreaties of the government, but later returned after a recess and approved it with a vote of 246 - 20 more than the number required. (Reuters)
US House of Representatives has passed a bill aiding Ukraine and imposing sanctions on Russia after an overwhelming vote in favor on a similar bill in the Senate. The two chambers will have to agree on how to handle minor differences between the two pieces of legislation before a final draft can be sent for President Obama to sign into law.
Russia’s president has instructed members of the Federation Council to “as soon as possible” provide everything required to boost the economic and social development of the two new Russian constituent regions – Crimea and Sevastopol.
“It is necessary to legislatively provide everything regarding the development of the economy and social sector of Crimea and Sevastopol,” Putin said.
Senators from Crimea will begin working in Russia's upper chamber of parliament, the Federation Council, on April 16.
“Two new senators from the executive organs of Crimea will start soon,” Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko told Russian President Vladimir Putin. “On April 16 we have a planned session and they will already start working in the Federation Council.”
Ukraine's former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko plans to run again for president in the upcoming poll on May 25.
"I plan to run for election as president," she told a press briefing.
Tymoshenko, 53, was released from jail last month after Viktor Yanukovich fled from power. She served twice as prime minister and ran for president in 2010, only to be narrowly beaten in a run-off vote by Yanukovich.
Ukraine’s coup-appointed government has indicated to Russia that it wants to raise gas transit prices for Russian gas. This was announced today by the Batkivshina party leader Sergey Sobolev.
“The negotiations are ongoing,” Sobolev explained at a media briefing. “We have informed [Russia] of the need to raise these tariffs,” he said on Thursday in an answer to the question, Interfax reports.
Sobolev added that only an emergency shipment of gas from the EU can “save” Ukraine, seeing as he doesn’t believe Russia has the right to dictate any conditions on gas prices anymore, without paying more for the transit.
Right Sector radical, Sashko Bily, real name Aleksandr Muzichko, was found dead with two gunshot wounds, apparently fired from his own weapon. The body was discovered in the city of Rovno by authorities, Gazeta. ru reports. “Crime scene forensics have concluded that both bullets…were fired from the firearm which was at the time in the hands of Aleksandr Muzychko,” a press statement read.
Anti-drug cooperation between Russia and the US has been suspended, as Michael Botticelli Acting Director of National Drug Control Policy declined an invitation to visit Moscow, Itar-Tass reports, citing the director's representative Rafael Lemeytr.
On Tuesday, Botticelli's counterpart Viktor Ivanov invited the Americans to a meeting in Moscow scheduled for May 14. "I hope that they will come," said the head of the Federal Drug Control Service, adding that he hopes the agencies will continue to cooperate.
26 March 2014
Ukraine hopes to start exporting their products to EU countries under preferential treatment in late April, the press service of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine said Wednesday, citing the head of the country's Commissioner European Integration Valery Pyatnitsky.
Pyatnitsky discussed signing of the agreement on the establishment of a free trade area (FTA) at the meeting with the delegation of the European Commission on Wednesday.
Under the proposal the European Union “will unilaterally provide preferential treatment to Ukrainian export in accordance with the provisions of the FTA EU - Ukraine . Tentatively these preferences will take effect for the Ukrainian side in late April - early May this year and will be in effect until November 1,” said Pyatnitsky, adding that Brussels is pushing Kiev to speed up the process in signing the Association Agreement.
Law enforcement authorities won’t allow extremists to prosper in Ukraine, said Arsen Avakov, Interior Minister in the country’s coup-imposed government.
The police are currently in a standoff with armed militant groups, who claim to be representing the ultranationalist Right Sector movement, in the Zakarpattia and Zaporizhia regions of Ukraine, the minister told journalists in Brussels.
“If the political regulation isn’t working, then the government should take action. Otherwise we turn into Somalia where the streets are ruled by gangs, which decide how this would happen. My function is to prevent this,” Avakov said.
By switching off Russian television channels, the self-proclaimed Ukrainian authorities have confirmed their “incapability,” said Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary.
The ban violates the right of Ukrainian citizens to freedom of information, which is hard to imagine “in a European country, which Ukraine considers itself,” he said.
A set of legislative initiatives required to establish visa-free relations between Ukraine and EU has been signed by the country’s coup-imposed prime minister, Arseny Yatsenyuk, during an extended session of the government.
The legislation deals with human rights and social support for refugees and homeless people as well as the introduction of the biometric passports, RIA-Novosti news agency reports.
With an EU Commission delegation present at the meeting, Yatsenyuk expressed the hope that now Ukraine’s “European partners will speed up the implementation of the visa-free regime with Ukraine.”
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said Russia may face bills for seizing munitions in Crimea, Deputy Defense Minister Leonid Polyakov said.
“If we are able to take any part of the weapons, that will be good,” he said. “If not, then certainly we will bill Russia through the procedure of the international courts.”
US President Barack Obama suggested the need for a more regular presence in Eastern European NATO member states.
"We have to put together very real contingency plans...over the last several years we have worked up a number of these contingency plans," Obama stated, adding that the plans are to be examined in April. He said that a "regular NATO presence" should be executed.
He went on to say that he was concerned over diminished defense spending in some European countries. "Everyone has to chip in," Obama said. "Our freedom isn't free." He stated that any extra could help to pay for personnel "for (a) deterrent force."
Presiden of the European Council Herman Van Rompouy has told a press conference at the Council of the European Union in Brussels that there is no EU member unanimity on Russia sanctions.
"We have to coordinate our member states. They are not all in the same position," said Van Rompouy. "Sanctions are not a punishment, sanctions are not a retaliation, sanctions are a positive incentive to seek a political solution," he added.
President Barack Obama said on Wednesday the United States and EU were in discussions over possible sanctions against Russia's energy sector.
"What we are now doing is coordinating around the potential for additional, deeper sanctions should Russia move forward and engage in further incursions into Ukraine," Obama said. "I think energy is obviously a central focus of our efforts and we have to consider it very strongly."
Kiev has emptied the treasury accounts of Yalta, a resort city in Crimea, and other regions, hiving off nearly 400 million Ukrainian hryvnas ($36 million), according to the acting mayor of Yalta, Sergey Karnaukh. He stressed that Kiev had no permission to do so. The money could be spent on improving living conditions in those regions, he said.
The German government has cautioned against the use of violent language in the Ukraine crisis in response to reports that the former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko said in a leaked phone call that the Russian minority should be "nuked".
"Despite all the opposition to Russia's actions in Crimea and all differences of opinion even of a fundamental kind, there are limits to language and thought that must not be crossed," said Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert.
"Images of violence and fantasies of violence clearly cross that line by a long way," he told news conference on Wednesday, in response to a question. (Reuters)
Citizens of Crimea will have to apply for Schengen area visas through consulates and embassies in Ukraine, according to the European Union’s office in Moscow.
“As the EU does not accept the annexation of Crimea, those who have received Russian passports will have to go through consulates in mainland Ukraine,” the office said in a statement.
Previously, Crimean residents could receive European visas through a consular center on the peninsula, which is still functioning.
Democrats in the US Senate have agreed to get rid of language demanding reforms of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from a Ukrainian aid bill to increase the chances of the legislation being passed by Congress, Majority Leader Harry Reid said.
"A majority of the Senate would have liked to have gotten that done with the IMF in it, but it was headed to nowhere in the House," Reid told reporters.
After reaching an agreement, the Senate is expected to vote on final passage on the bill on Thursday, Reid said.
The bill is expected to pass through Congress and have President Barack Obama's signature by the end of the week.
The Senate bill asks for the government to provide a $1 billion loan guarantee for Ukraine and offers another $150 million in aid for the country.
25 March 2014
Norway has suspended all scheduled military activities with Russia, country defense ministry has announced, until the end of May 2014.
“In line with previous announcements Norway will suspend its participation in the planned naval exercise 'Northern Eagle', as well as any preparations for the exercise. Also affected are a number of other planned activities, including a visit by a high-ranking Russian military commander as well as a port visit by the Russian Navy. Norway will also postpone the visit of the Russian Minister of Defence, Mr. Shoigu, that had been scheduled for April 2014,” the Ministry's statement reads.
However Norway hopes to retain its cooperation with Russia in areas such as Search and Rescue, maritime safety, as well as Coast Guard and Border Guard collaboration.
Self-defense squads and militias in Sevastopol seized their existence, Interfax reports, after a decree was signed by the city's mayor, Aleksey Chaly.
"Thousands of residents organized themselves at a critical moment for the protection of Sevastopol : patrolled the streets , guarding vital urban infrastructure and were on watch at checkpoints" the statement reads aknowleging the invaluable contribution of these men and women to the security of the city.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called Ukraine's decision to suspend broadcast of four Russian TV channels in Ukraine an attack on media freedom.
"It certainly can be considered only in terms of the an attack on democratic freedoms, and a violation of international obligations by Ukraine,” the ministry's commissioner on human rights Konstantin Dolgov told Ria Novosti.
Dolgov says that Kiev's court decision to ban RTR , Channel 1, Russia 24 and NTV effects millions of people “who have every right to watch television and have access to media in Russian.”
The commissioner said that authorities in Kiev came to power in an “anti-constitutional coup” and had promised and “declared commitment to basic human rights and freedoms, democratic principles. Of course, this decision [to impose a ban] in no way fits with such a declaration," said Dolgov, questionining Kiev's commitment to freedom of the media and other fundamental rights and freedoms.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has previously voiced numerous concerns over the attack on Russian TV channels in Ukraine by the self-installed government.
A Kiev court Tuesday officially blocked the broadcasting of four Russian channels in Ukraine, including Channel One, Rossiya-24, RTR Planet and NTV-World.
The ban, which had already been recommended by coup-imposed Kiev authorities on March 7, will last at least for the duration of the case brought against the local re-broadcaster for putting the channels on air, Interfax reports. Ukraine’s Security Service and Prosecutor General’s Office are now evaluating the reporting of Russian TV channels on the recent events in the country.
The US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee passed on Tuesday a Ukraine aid bill that does not include International Monetary Fund reforms sought by the Obama administration and backed by Senate Democrats.
The committee passed the bill by voice vote, sending it for a vote in the full House.
The bill backs a $1 billion loan guarantee for Ukraine, includes sanctions on Ukrainians and Russians over Moscow's actions in Ukraine and provides aid to Ukraine. (Reuters)
A drone has been shot down over Transdniestr, Moldova’s breakaway region, the region’s security service has reported on its website. On March 23, the pilotless aircraft was photographing and videoing the republic.
Transdniestr special services recovered the video record from the drone, the statement says. According to preliminary information, the unmanned aircraft was launched from Ukraine’s soil by a group of people allegedly linked to Ukraine’s security service, the Interior Ministry’s General Staff or supporters of ultra-nationalist movement Right Sector for an intelligence-gathering operation.
Currently, Transdniestr’s security service is working on the identification of those linked to trespassing the republic’s airspace, its press service said.
US President Barack Obama has said that Russia's “annexation” of Crimea was not a “done deal” as it has not been recognized by the international community, Reuters reports. Washington is concerned about the possibility of further Russian encroachment into Ukraine, he added, speaking at the conclusion of the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague.
“It is up to Russia to act responsibly and show itself once again to be willing to abide by international norms... if it fails to do so, there will be some costs,” Obama said.
According to Obama, additional sanctions would hurt Russia, but also the economies of other countries.
He also called Russia a “regional power,” adding that it became involved in Ukraine out of weakness, rather than strength.
“We [the US] have considerable influence on our neighbors. We generally don't need to invade them in order to have a strong cooperative relationship with them,” Obama said.
A draft resolution on Ukraine’s territorial integrity submitted to the UN General Assembly by the new authorities in Kiev may complicate the search for a diplomatic and political solution to the crisis, says Gennady Gatilov, a deputy Russian foreign minister.
“Naturally, our attitude to the draft is very negative,” he told Interfax. The draft basically just repeats the UN Security Council’s resolution declaring the Crimean referendum invalid that Russia vetoed on March 15, he said.
The diplomat also called the new document “anti-Russian.” The assembly meeting is planned for March 27.
About 6,500 Crimeans have received Russian passports in the week since authorities started handing out documents to new Russian citizens, Anatoly Fomenko, deputy head of the Russian Federal Migration Service, has told Itar-Tass. Over 20,000 people have so far applied for passports, he added.
“We have been working all week and gradually expanding [our staff], since the process of making passports is pretty laborious. We have to delegate [migration service] employees from other regions,” he said.
In total, 1.5 million people may want to get Russian passports in the republic, which officially joined Russia on Friday, after the March 16 referendum.
Soooo. Ukraine's Interior Ministry NOW officially outlaws all those carrying unregistered firearms, saying time to hand it over has passed
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) March 25, 2014
Russia is upholding its obligations on nuclear security in Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, calling the allegations of Ukrainian coup-imposed authorities that Russia poses a nuclear security threat an attempt to “shift the blame from the sick head to the healthy one.”
The only danger that nuclear facilities in Ukraine face is the “incompetence of the ‘new Kiev authorities’,” the ministry said in a statement published on its website.
“We have already heard calls from Maidan leaders to blow up the gas pipelines passing through the Ukrainian territory and to set up cooperation with international terrorists,” the statement said.
As for Russia, it has heeded its obligations on “both the delivery of nuclear fuel and on receiving radioactive fuel for reprocessing, thus continuing to help sustaining nuclear security in Ukraine,” the Foreign Ministry added.
The increasingly common harassment of clergy in Ukraine is a sign of “national and confessional intolerance” in the country, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said it regretted hearing reports of “threats” against the priests, adding that such facts add up to the atmosphere of intolerance in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s acting defense minister, Igor Tenyukh, has been dismissed - at the second attempt. Earlier in the morning Tenyukh said in the parliament that he was resigning. Only 197 MPs voted for his dismissal, 29 MPs short of the simple majority of 226 votes was needed to approve it. Later Tenyukh’s resignation was put on agenda once again after consultations between fractions. This time, 228 MPs voted for his dismissal.
Mikhail Koval, a colonel-general of Ukraine’s border security troops, was appointed as the new acting defense minister.
The US Senate with a 78-17 vote has advanced a bill aimed at providing a $1 billion loan and an additional $150 million in economic assistance to Ukraine’s coup-installed government. The bill also seeks to codify the US economic and political sanctions imposed on Russia following Crimea’s decision to secede from Ukraine and become a part of the Russian Federation.
The bill is also designed to shift US contributions to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to enable the allocation of additional loans to Ukraine. However, the IMF reform clause may stall the legislation in the House, as many Republicans oppose it as “unnecessary.”
A UN General Assembly (UNGA) draft resolution on the situation in Ukraine is being circulated among 193 countries that are members of the world organization, UNGA spokesman Afaf Gongju told Ria Novosti.
The document, which will be submitted for discussion at the plenary session on March 27, will urge member states not to recognize the results of the March 16 referendum in Crimea, claiming it cannot "serve as the basis for any status change to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol."
24 March 2014
Permanent representative of the self-imposed President of Ukraine in Crimea Sergey Kunitsyn (MP Udar Party) has resigned from his post. He has also criticized the inaction of Ukrainian authorities in connection with the situation on the Crimean peninsula, saying that he is “ashamed,” Ukrainian news agency UNIAN reports, citing Kunitsyn.
Claims that security guarantees to Ukraine were undermined mustn’t become an excuse for the country to try to obtain nuclear weapons, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said at the nuclear security summit in The Hague.
“The consequences will be severe as to regional security and the integrity of the nuclear nonproliferation regime. It shouldn’t serve as excuse to seek nuclear weapons, leading to even greater disintegration and reduction of the security,” he stressed.
Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenals back in 1994 as part of the Budapest Memorandum in exchange for security guarantees, but the country’s coup-imposed government in now considering a withdrawal from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Russian FM #Lavrov meets coup-imposed Ukranian FM Andrey Deshchytsia (via @mfa_russia) http://t.co/z93b91nr8cpic.twitter.com/UIWYUBHYjE
— RT (@RT_com) March 24, 2014
Ukrainian troops in Crimea have not yet received an order to leave the place of their deployment, Vladislav Seleznyov, spokesman for Ukraine’s Defense Ministry in Crimea, told Interfax-Ukraine.
“As for the situation in Crimea, as far as I know, the order to the troops to hold position still stands. It was voiced by the defense minister and I have heard of no other orders,” Seleznyov stressed.
Earlier on Monday, Ukraine’s coup-imposed acting president, Aleksandr Turchinov, said the Defense Ministry has been instructed to withdraw its troops and their families from Crimea.
Moscow has demanded that Kiev takes measures to provide security for all Russian official representation offices in Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry has stated. The move comes after a group of ultra-nationalists in Kiev attempted to break into a building rented by the Russian Center of Science and Culture (RCSC).
The attackers announced they were willing to house their headquarters at the office as well as to use RCSC’s possession and equipment – “which are the property of the Russian Federation.” According to the ministry, the group also stole the vehicle belonging to the center.
The attackers only left the building and returned the car when Ukrainian law enforcers took action at the request of Russian embassy employees and the RCSC.
Russian diplomats say the incident became possible because the “new Ukrainian leadership has lost control over the situation in Kiev.”
A draft bill on Ukraine’s withdrawal from the Commonwealth of Independent States, the CIS – the union of several former Soviet republics – has been passed to the parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.
Sergey #Lavrov and John Kerry's meeting in Hague @RusEmbUSApic.twitter.com/4OphBGKZek
— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) March 24, 2014
The coup-imposed Ukrainian acting President Aleksandr Turchinov has announced the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Crimea, citing “threats to the lives and health” of military personnel.
“The National Defense and Security Council has instructed the Defense Ministry to carry out a re-deployment of military units stationed in Crimea and carry out the evacuation of their families,” Turchinov said.
The statement comes after the First Deputy PM of the Crimean government, Rustam Temirgaliev, had declared that all military installations in Crimea have either moved to Russian jurisdiction or left the peninsula. Earlier on Saturday, Crimean authorities reported a temporary seal-off of the border from the Ukrainian side, which they said also blockaded about 2,000 Ukrainian troops who had opted to leave the region.
The Ukrainian ambassador in Minsk has been summoned for consultation following the Sunday statements by the Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko.
A memorandum was forwarded to the Belarusian side, saying that “such statements are against the generally accepted norms of international law, the position of the most countries in the world that condemned the Russian actions to annex the Crimea.”
On Sunday, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko stated that his country accepts that Crimea is now de facto a part of Russia.
“We agree with the Russian Federation on that,” the leader said.
Moscow believes the attack on the Moscow-Kishinyov train by far-right nationalists is “anarchy,” Russian Foreign Ministry reported.
“To the horror of passengers of the train no.65 Moscow-Kishinyov, which stopped in the town of Vinnitsy on March 21, people in Ukrainian rebel army uniforms and started a “document check,” the ministry stated.
Moreover, the Russian citizens who showed their passports were made to give away their money and golden jewelry. The attempts of the robbed people to address police to deal with the matter led to no result.
“The local police refused to accept such claims,” the ministry stressed.
All military installations in the Crimea have moved to Russian jurisdiction, and all Ukrainian troops have left the peninsula, declared the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Crimea, Rustam Temirgaliev, after the base of the Ukraine’s marines in Feodosia was taken under control by self-defense squads.
Crimean self-defense squads have taken under control a Ukrainian marine base in Feodosia, a port and resort city in Crimea. The base remains sealed off. The capture took place early in the morning and the operation lasted for about an hour. The squads reportedly entered the base after two armored infantry vehicles broke the perimeter, then used stun grenades to force up to 80 Ukrainian marines to surrender. No information about casualties or injured is available. A day before the commander of the base, Captain Aleksandr Lantukh, declared the marines were willing to leave the base only if they were allowed to take their weapons and military vehicles with them.
23 March 2014
The Russian ruble will officially be used in Crimea starting on Monday, Interfax reported, citing local officials. The transition from the Ukrainian hryvnia to the ruble will be slow and people will be able to use both locally for some time.
Switzerland has opened two official money laundering investigations, with one of them involving unnamed associates of ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, Reuters quoted a spokeswoman for the country’s Prosecutor's Office as saying. “The state public prosecutor can only open an investigation when there is a reasonable suspicion of possible punishable behavior,” the spokeswoman said. Both investigations were opened on Thursday. Switzerland previously froze the assets of 29 Ukrainians, including Yanukovich.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have held a phone conversation during which both expressed their satisfaction about the accord reached concerning the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) six-month monitoring mission to Ukraine, said the Kremlin’s press service. The conversation was initiated by the German side.
"The situation following the reunification of Crimea with Russia was discussed. [Both sides] reaffirmed their readiness to continue the dialogue, including at an expert level,” the press service said.
Happening Now: Pro Russian rally outside UN HQ in NYC. pic.twitter.com/FX1alvdpAW
— Vasili Sushko (@vsushko_VR) March 23, 2014
The UK government is urgently gathering business leaders for consultations on possible economic sanctions against Russia and on the risks that such sanctions could pose for the UK, The Sunday Times reports.
According to the newspaper, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), British Bankers’ Association (BBA), and other lobby groups will next week hold meetings at the country’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in connection with the Ukrainian crisis.
The UK is wary of sanctioning Russian businesses, as the economies of the two countries have become greatly interwoven, the paper notes. Both Russian companies and oligarchs – such as Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea Football Club – and their UK counterparts – such as energy giant BP, which owns a 20 percent share of Russia’s Rosneft oil company – have made billions of pounds in investments.
In 2013, UK exports to Russia reached 7.1 billion pounds (US$11.7 billion), while imports have been estimated at 7.8 billion pounds ($12.9 billion).
The video of the flash mob staged by musicians of the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra under the guidance of conductor Hobart Earle at Pryvoz Market in the Black Sea coastal city went viral on Sunday. The performance, which calls for peace and unity, took place on Saturday.
Over 100,000 people have voted for joining Russia in a people’s referendum that was carried out in the form of a poll in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk, according to preliminary results. The poll was initiated last Sunday and will continue for another week. About a thousand protesters gathered near the building of the regional security service, protesting against the current authorities in Kiev.
The eastern city of Donetsk has witnessed protests as people took to the streets demanding a referendum to decide the future of the region. The protesters hoisted a Russian flag near the city council building chanting slogans “Russia” and “Berkut”, while the building itself was surrounded by police.
Thousands have gathered in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkov to protest for the federalization of the country. The demonstration was also dedicated to two people who died last week after clashes with members of the Right Sector movement. The rally was heading to the city council building.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets in the Black Sea coast city of Odessa rallying against the coup-imposed government in Kiev. They were carrying Ukranian, Russian and Crimean flags and chanting slogans such as “Ukraine and Russia are together”,“Odessa is against Nazis and tycoons,” and “Referendum!”
189 military Ukrainian armed forces units and institutions in Crimea have raised Russian flags, said the press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Russia is observing all international agreements on troop limits in regions bordering Ukraine, the Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov has said.
A total of eight foreign inspection groups have recently visited Russia, including inspectors from the US, Canada, Germany, France, Switzerland, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and from the Ukrainian military.
The inspectors came to the conclusion that "Russian Armed Forces are not undertaking any undeclared military activity that would threaten the security of neighboring countries," Antonov stressed.
Police have detained four participants of a March-13 pro-Russian rally in the city of Donetsk.
“They were questioned and are suspected of committing criminal offenses,” the local Interior Ministry stated.
On March 13, during a rally, militant supporters of the coup-appointed Ukrainian government attacked pro-Russian demonstrators. The radicals were armed with weapons and clubs. As a result, one pro-Russian activist was killed and dozens injured.
Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has stated that his government accepts that Crimea is now de-facto a part of Russia.
“Crimea isn’t an independent state. It’s part of the Russian territory. One can recognize or not recognize that, it will change nothing,” Lukashenko told journalists in Minsk on Sunday. “We agree with the Russian Federation on that.”
Speaking on the territorial integrity of Ukraine, Lukashenko said, “Would you like it if a state’s sovereignty is breached? But who pushed towards that? When Russia saw how the Russian, Slavic world was being stifled, the country interfered immediately.”
Lukashenko added that he personally believes Ukraine should “remain an integral, indivisible, non-aligned state.” However, if Kiev moves to join NATO, “evidently, Belarusian reaction to that will be harsh,” he stressed.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has ordered the country’s top officials to form territorial federal executive authorities in the Republic of Crimea and the Russian federal city of Sevastopol, in compliance with the law on entry of the territories to the Russian Federation, which came into force on March 21.
Among the officials to carry out the task are Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Federal Security Service Director Alexander Bortnikov, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, according to the text of the order published at the Kremlin’s official website.
Territorial federal executive authorities in Crimea and Sevastopol have to be formed by March 29, 2014.
22 March 2014
A few thousand protesters rallied in support of ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich in Donetsk on Saturday. The demonstrators held Russian and Communist Party of Ukraine flags and called on the coup-imposed government in Kiev and the parliament to resign. They also demanded a referendum on the fate of the Donetsk region.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said new limitations of arms sales should be introduced against Russia by the UK and its allies as part of a new type of relationship with the country, following Russia's accession of Crimea. Hague made the statement in an article published in The Telegraph newspaper.
"This would involve Russia being outside some international organizations, facing lasting restrictions on military cooperation and arms sales, and having less influence over the rest of Europe," he wrote.
Ukrainian border guards have unilaterally blocked the border between Crimea and Ukraine in both directions, Itar-Tass news agency reports, citing Crimean authorities.
The measure has prevented the Ukrainian military, who served in Crimea and expressed the desire to move to Ukraine, from leaving the peninsula.
The Crimean authorities said that the Ukrainian side’s actions are a provocation in order “to accuse the Crimean authorities of not letting people out by force and intentionally creating tension at the border.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to hold a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry, during the Nuclear Security Summit in Hague, the Netherlands on March 24-25.
According to RIA-Novosti, the sides will discuss the political crisis in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Security Service has detained in Donetsk the leader of the “people’s self-defense” squad, Mikhail Chumachenko, for allegedly plotting a coup and infringement upon the country’s territorial integrity, reports the UNN news website.
According to law enforcers, during an upcoming protest rally, Chumachenko was planning to call on demonstrators to seize a regional administration building. The Security Service also said he was going to proclaim himself governor.
The decision by the Council of Europe to expand sanctions against Russia by adding 12 high-ranking officials to the EU’s black list has been described as “detached from reality” by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Aleksandr Lukashevich.
“It’s a pity that the Council of Europe has taken a decision that’s detached from reality,” Lukashevich said, as cited by the ministry’s website. “We believe it’s time to get back on the pragmatic path of cooperation, serving our countries’ interests. Simultaneously, it’s clear that the Russian side reserves the right to respond correspondingly to the measures taken [by the EU]”.
Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergey Ryabkov, expressed appreciation for Nicaragua’s support of Russia’s position in relation to Crimea during a meeting with the Nicaraguan president's representative, Luis Ortega, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported. The two officials also discussed the future development of bilateral relations in trade, economic, investment, and other areas.
21 March 2014
Russia's envoy to NATO, Aleksandr Grushko, said that Russia does not need the EU’s or NATO’s permission to act within international law in Crimea. The statement was made during a conference in Brussels.
Grushko added that the Crimean referendum was absolutely legitimate and that NATO, calling itself an alliance of democratic governments, should recognize the democratic choice of the Crimean people.
Ukraine’s coup-imposed Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said that Russian gas prices could almost double beginning on April 1, UNN news agency reported. According to Yatsenyuk, prices could reach US$500 per 1,000 cubic meters. Ukraine is not able to walk away from importing gas from Russia due to the lack of diversification efforts in the past, he said.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the Ukraine crisis is a “game changer” for NATO allies which must now strengthen economic and military ties.
"Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine is the most serious crisis in Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Our vision of a Europe whole, free and at peace has been put into question,” he said during a speech in Brussels. “The transatlantic bond and NATO matter more for Europe than ever before,” he added.
Canada has joined the US in imposing more sanctions against Russia, targeting Bank Rossiya and another 14 Russian officials.
"Together with our international allies, our Government is taking a strong stance in our support for Ukraine," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement. "We continue to take additional actions to limit the capabilities of specific individuals and Bank Rossiya, which are responsible for undermining Ukraine's sovereignty.”
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Friday the OSCE's decision to send a monitoring mission to Ukraine was a step towards de-escalating the crisis in the country.
"This is not yet the end of the crisis but a step that helps to support our de-escalation efforts," he said in a statement, shortly after the decision of the 57-nation rights and security group was announced.
"The situation in Ukraine remains unstable and menacing. For this reason, the (OSCE) observers must take up their work as quickly as possible," said Steinmeier, who is set to travel to Ukraine on Saturday. (Reuters)
Russia joined the 56 other members of the OSCE on Friday in a consensus decision to send a six-month monitoring mission of the rights and security group to Ukraine, diplomats told Reuters.
The Kiev-based mission will initially consist of 100 civilian monitors, but that number may later expand by another 400 personnel.
It will initially be deployed in nine places, including Donetsk – a major city in largely Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine.
The text of the decision does not mention Crimea, which was officially accepted into the Russian Federation on Friday.
Fireworks light up skies over Moscow, Sevastopol and Simferopol marking Crimea becoming a part of Russia.
Moscow has expressed “disappointment and regret” at the additional sanctions imposed by Barack Obama on Thursday, and has promised a “tough response” from Russia.
“Washington should be under no illusion: the practical impact of their sanctions in terms of achieving their political interest will be negligible. But the damage to the relations between the two countries is real,” said official foreign ministry representative Aleksandr Lukashevich.
Ivan Simonovic, assistant secretary-general for human rights at the UN is in Crimea on a two-day visit, “to prepare the ground for a UN Human Rights Commission monitoring mission,” according to his office.
Simonovic, who was invited by the Crimean administration, has met with Prime Minister Sergey Aksenov.
Armenia has backed the Crimea’s choice of joining Russia, supporting the right to self-determination of the peninsula’s population, Gazeta.ru reports.
"Armenia's principled position on the right to self-determination remains unchanged and repeatedly expressed over the years," Shavarsh Kocharyan, Armenia’s deputy foreign minister told Ukrainain ambassador, Ivan Kukhta.
The meeting in Yerevan was initiated by the Ukrainian side after Armenia’s president, Serzh Sargsyan, said that the Crimean referendum was justified.
Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, says that there’s no need to artificially accelerate the process of accepting Ukraine into the European Union, Itar-Tass news agency reports.
Tusk acknowledges that the EU is now a lot more serious about treating Ukraine as a country with a European destination, but added that it’s still too early to talk about its actual membership in the block.
The UK will not recognize the illegal referendum in the Crimea, which “has taken place at the barrel of a Kalashnikov,” British Prime Minister David Cameron said.
If Russian troops went into eastern Ukraine after the Crimean referendum then the Kremlin would face "far-reaching consequences in a broad range of economic areas," Cameron is cited by Reuters.
He stressed that the sanctions may even target Roman Abramovich and other Russian tycoons, who reside in the UK.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Ukraine and Russia on Friday to meet for talks to prevent the crisis between them becoming "uncontrollable" and spreading beyond the region.
"What is important at this time is for Ukraine and Russian authorities to sit down together and engage in direct and constructive dialogue," Ban said in the Ukrainian capital Kiev after meeting acting President Aleksandr Turchinov.
Ban said the longer peaceful dialogue was delayed, "the greater risk there will be of uncontrollable situations beyond these two countries and beyond the region." Turchinov said Ukraine would never accept Russia's annexation of Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that is at the heart of the crisis. (Reuters)
France is suspending military cooperation with Russia, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Friday during a trip to Baltic states designed to reassure them as tensions mount with Russia over its seizure of Ukraine's Crimea region.
He said the suspension would concern joint military exercises, but said nothing about the fate of contracts to supply Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia. On Thursday, Le Drian had said such a decision would not be taken until October. (Reuters)
Russia will respond to the second round of US sanctions “based on the reciprocity principle,” presidential aide Dmitry Peskov has said. He added that Russia will support those who have been targeted by sanctions. At the same time, he said that Russia is “not looking for confrontation,” but on the contrary is for “developing cooperation with the West.”
Russian investigators have filed a request with Interpol to declare the Right Sector leader wanted, Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said.
By imposing sanctions on Viktor Ivanov, chief of the Federal Drug Control Service of the Russian Federation (FSKN), the White House suspends cooperation with the body, the service said.
“And now by its arbitrary and unreasonable decisions the Obama Administration in one day destroys a unique experience and professional police cooperation, which have no relation to politics,” FSKN said commenting to the measure as cited by ITAR-TASS.
Germany has decided to suspend approval of all defense-related exports to Russia in light of the West's diplomatic showdown with Moscow over Ukraine, a spokesman for the economy ministry said on Friday.
Earlier this week, the government ordered defense contractor Rheinmetall to halt delivery of combat simulation gear to Russia. The ministry spokesman said this was a "one-off" case, but that future deals would also be blocked.
"The (Rheinmetall) case that you are talking about is a one-off case. Nevertheless, it is true that given the current situation in Russia, we are not approving any exports of defense goods to this country at the moment," the spokesman said. (Reuters)
The Russian senators also requested the United States to add them to their sanction lists. The statement to that effect brands the American move and a similar measure by the EU “an unprecedented move of political blackmail.”
“We are ready for the entire corps of the Federation Council, all senators to joint that sanction list,” Speaker Valentina Matvienko said. She personally is already targeted by the US sanctions.
The senators’ request follows a similar move by members of the lower parliamentary chamber.
The statement also says that senators are baffled by the fact that Washington and Brussels treat an armed coup in Ukraine as a legitimate act of the people while consider a free referendum in Crimea illegal.
“It’s time not for imposing sanctions, but to act urgently and offer targeted help to the Ukrainian people, so that Ukraine did not fall further into political and economic abyss, preserved as a civilized European nation” the senators said.
The statement expresses hope that “common sense eventually prevails and together with the Ukrainian people a path to political resolution of the Ukrainian situation based on Russia’s proposals is found.”
"The decision to sign the political side of the association agreement [with the EU by Ukraine] is rooted not in the pursuit of the best interests of Ukraine, but in geopolitical point-scoring," said Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of the latest deal.
Ukraine and the EU have on Friday signed an association agreement, signaling closer relations, following Crimea's decision to up with Russia.
The agreement had previously been put on hold by the Yanukovich administration, but the process of bringing Ukraine closer to the EU has now resumed.
The EU promised to provide an additional one billion euros in “macro financial assistance” to Ukraine, said president of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso after the the first session of the European Council meeting in Brussels. This will bring the total of overall support to 1.6 billion euros. Barroso also stated: “the autonomous trade measures we proposed to open unilaterally our market to Ukrainian products.”
The EU approved annulling 98 percent of all custom duties paid by Ukrainian exporters. The decision was announced following the summit in Brussels. The new initiative might come into force as soon as May and will last until November 1 or until any other law is introduced.
The EU has agreed to expand its sanctions list over the Crimea referendum by 12 more people, bringing the total to 33, said European Council President Van Rompuy. The EU also canceled the upcoming EU-Russia summit, along with other bilateral summits. Read more here.
The EU is asking the European Commission to draft a plan by June on how to become less energy dependent, in light of its heavy reliance on Russia for energy imports.
Ukraine will be ready to sign the economic part of the EU agreement after the presidential elections, coup-imposed Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said, adding that some of the economic changes are already being implemented.
Ukraine’s prosecutor general concluded that snipers involved in killings on Independence Square in Kiev were Ukrainian citizens, acting Prosecutor General Oleg Mahnitsky told local Channel 5. He said the individuals cannot be named.
UN Secreatary General Ban Ki-moon is planning to meet Ukraine’s coup-imposed Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk and acting President Aleksandr Turchinov on Friday during his visit to Kiev.
The EU will not be introducing energy-related sanctions against Russia, diplomatic sources said during the EU summit in Brussels, according to RIA Novosti.
20 March 2014
The US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee will introduce a Ukraine aid bill on Friday, but it will not include reforms of the International Monetary Fund requested by the Obama administration, congressional sources told Reuters.
The bill has similar provisions to those in a bill passed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Yet there are differences in addition to the lack of IMF reforms, a congressional aide told Reuters. This means that if the House bill passes, the Senate and House will have to reconcile their versions of the legislation.
EU agrees to expand sanctions to 12 more Russians, bringing total to 33 people, the President of the European Council
Herman Van Rompuy says.
Passports were handed out to new Russian citizens in Sevastopol, Crimea on Thursday. The treaty of Crimea's accession was signed on Tuesday, enabling all of those who appealed to the Federal Migration Service to recieve the newly issued passport.
Ukraine will not stop supplying Crimea with water and electricity, but Russia will need to pay for it, said coup-imposed Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk.
Ukraine is continuing to work on introducing a visa regime for Russia, acting Foreign Minister Andrey Deschitsa told Itar-Tass. The first step would be requiring people to use their international passports when crossing the border. Russians could previously enter Ukraine using only their domestic ID.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu assured his US counterpart Chuck Hagel that there are no plans for Russian troops to enter Ukraine from the eastern border, Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said.
Shoigu also urged Hagel to objectively look at Russian military activity in regions adjacent to Ukrainian borders and not to escalate the situation, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
The president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, has warned Europe against “sleep-walking” into an ever-escalating conflict, saying that the “Crimea crisis is unacceptable and must never be repeated anywhere.”
“The European Parliament urges you to think about the conflict from the point of view of its outcome and to keep all channels of communication with Russia open,” he added.
Schulz stressed that the European Parliament would do everything to ensure that Ukraine gets €3 billion from the EU budget as soon as possible.
“We must help Ukraine get back on its feet economically, to overcome divisions in its society, and to guard against rifts and radicalization,” he said.
Seventy-two military units and institutions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which have been deployed to Crimea, have raised the Russian flag over their bases there.
“Commanders and officials of 72 military units and institutions and ships of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry have decided to voluntarily join the armed forces of Russia for further military service,” officials in Crimea said, as quoted by Itar-Tass news agency.
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has lowered its outlook on Russia's ratings to negative from stable, citing “heightened geopolitical risk and the prospect of US and EU economic sanctions.” S&P affirmed “'BBB/A-2' foreign currency and 'BBB+/A-2' local currency long- and short-term sovereign credit ratings on Russia,” the company said in a statement. "The outlook revision reflects our view of the material and unanticipated economic and financial consequences that EU and US sanctions could have on Russia's creditworthiness following Russia's incorporation of Crimea, which the international community currently considers legally to be a part of Ukraine," S&P said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has called on the US Secretary of State John Kerry to put an end to violence “by ultranationalist and extremist forces targeting businessmen and journalists, dissenters, the Russian-speaking population and our compatriots.”
"The minister and the secretary of state agreed to stay in touch over Ukraine, including discussing ways to de-escalate the situation and assisting the launch of constitutional reform in Ukraine, with full participation of all of the country's regions," the Russian Foreign Ministry said, as the two spoke on phone.
Russia and Ukraine appear to be on the verge of a messy battle over assets.
“Ukraine’s justice minister has said that Russian assets in the country, including those belonging to Gazprom, may be appropriated to compensate for a so-called nationalization of Ukrainian property in Crimea. Any claims on Russian property, including those abroad, will be treated as a violation of international law and principles of national sovereignty,” says a statement from the Foreign Ministry.
“Russia reserves the right to take adequate and proportionate measures in return.”
The Federation Council, the upper chamber of Russia’s legislative assembly, has called an extraordinary meeting in which return sanctions may be imposed upon US and EU officials.
“The text of the final statement is still being worked on, and will be agreed upon by the various relevant committees,” a source told Interfax news agency.
“It will also take into account the latest measures adopted by Barack Obama.”
Several prominent members of the Federation Council, including its speaker, Valentina Mativenko, have ended up on Western sanction lists.
Russia’s security agency, the FSB, has announced that it is restricting the movement of vehicles on the Russian-Ukrainian border due to the “current situation.”
It says that scheduled buses and individual citizens are still allowed through.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has published a reciprocal sanctions list of US citizens, consisting of 10 names, including: House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, Senator J. McCain; and advisers to President Obama D. Pfeiffer and C. Atkinson.
Crimea’s incorporation into the Russian Federation will be concluded on Friday, Vladimir Konstantinov, chairman of the state council of the republic, said
“The process of incorporation is going ahead as planned, as today the State Duma ratified that law, and a session of the legislative assembly will be held tomorrow.”
He added that sooner or later, relations with Ukraine will be “normalized.”
US President Barack Obama has announced a new executive order imposing further sanctions on top Russian officials and businessmen. The order also allows for measures against Russian energy, mining, defense, and engineering sectors.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told visiting UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Thursday that Moscow was deeply concerned over "numerous violations of the rights of Russian-speakers in eastern and southeastern regions of Ukraine," his ministry said.
Lavrov also told Ban that "radical groups" were whipping up tension in Ukraine "with the connivance of the Kiev authorities", the ministry said in a statement. (Reuters)
As EU leaders begin arriving in Brussels for a summit, French President Francois Hollande says cancelling a June summit with Russia is set to be discussed as well as fresh sanctions against Russian figures.
"Sanctions will be decided... [and]... a suspension of political ties," Hollande said, referring to a planned EU-Russia summit in June, as AFP quotes him. "We must also plan other sanctions if there is an escalation."
UK Prime Minister David Cameron also added that more names could be added to the EU's blacklist of Russian officials.
Crimean prosecutors have denied that they have identified the culprits of the shooting that left two dead and two wounded on Tuesday.
“We do not have anyone in custody. Following the attack, we detained two 17-year-olds but further inquiries determined that they had nothing to do with it,” said Natalya Boyarintseva, the press secretary of the Crimean prosecutor’s office.
Boyarintseva confirmed that the police believe that more than one person was behind the attack. Authorities in Crimea have not revealed the names of the victims, but say two of them were Ukrainian soldiers, and two belonged to the pro-Russian militia. Earlier this week, Crimea’s Chief Prosecutor Natalya Poklonskaya said the shooters fired on both sides on purpose, to provoke confrontation.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that he was "deeply concerned" by the situation involving Ukraine and Russia.
Ban is on a visit to both nations to encourage all parties involved in the crisis over Ukraine and Crimea region, which has joined Russia, to find a peaceful solution. (Reuters)
Russia’s State Duma has ratified the Treaty for the Accession of Crimea and city of Sevastopol to the Russian Federation with 443 deputies voting for it. For the document to be ratified the State Duma needed at least 300 “yes” votes.
The vote came two days after the treaty was signed in the Kremlin by President Putin and Crimea officials on March 18.
Russia has reaffirmed its respect for the role of the UN in international affairs.
“Russia is one of the UN founding nations, have always consistently supported the the central role of the United Nations in international affairs, and appreciate your effective role in solving conflicts worldwide,” said Vladimir Putin ahead of his meeting with Ban Ki-Moon in Moscow.
Foreign Minister Lavrov has also commented on Ukraine’s possible exit from CIS, calling it an “anti-Russian” provocative action.
“We, certainly, do not keep anyone in the CIS by force, but this [decision] is made not in the vital interests of the people of Ukraine, but to take another anti-Russian propagandistic action. I have no doubt in this,” Lavrov said.
Lawlessness continues in Ukraine with radical elements and nationalist’s aggressive actions being reported on a daily basis, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
“The historic decision on the reunification of the Crimea with Russia comes amid tragic events in Ukraine,” Lavrov told the State Duma, which is set to ratify the Treaty for the Accession of Crimea to the Russian Federation.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) will send a mission of 15 international experts “as part of a National Dialogue project to identify areas for further OSCE activities to support confidence-building between different parts of Ukrainian society,” reported the OSCE press service.
“The project aims to contribute to a peaceful and sustainable political transition in the country and to immediately address problematic issues through supporting a national, inclusive and impartial dialogue throughout Ukraine,” the body said in a statement.
Ukraine will punish itself if it breaks military-technical cooperation with Russia, says Russia’s Defense Ministry. However, it added that there won’t be any disruption of armed services procurement due to possible sanctions and Ukraine’s failure to deliver certain products.
A senior Russian defense official has said that Moscow won’t simply accept France’s threat to mothball its order of two Mistral warships following events in Crimea. "There is no doubt the Russian side will defend its rights ... and will demand compensation for all losses we might sustain if the Mistral contract is breached," Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov told RIA news agency. Russia says it has already paid more than 700 million euros for the order, and as well as returning the money, France would be obliged to pay additional penalties according to the terms of the contract.
Ukraine’s decision to impose a visa regime with Russia evokes both surprise and regret, says Russia’s interior ministry. According to the ministry, this move might worsen contact between millions of citizens of the two countries, as well as border, interregional and humanitarian connections.
'Western sanctions against Russia may boost Eurasian Economic Union' http://t.co/0yuUlCsVoU
— RT (@RT_com) March 20, 2014
A 17 year-old man from Western Ukraine has been arrested in connection with the Simferopol shooting that killed 2 people, Crimean Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliyev said, citing preliminary reports.
According to Temirgaliyev, the police are investigating if the suspect had any accomplices.
Two people – a self-defense member and a Ukrainian soldier – were killed on Tuesday after a sniper opened fire from a partially-inhabited building near a military research center in Simferopol, the capital of Crimea.
Russia’s Federal Customs Union has today decided to increase border checks with Ukraine, following recent progress in a large-scale operation to curb illegal firearms imports from Europe via Ukraine.
“A tightening of border checks with Ukraine has taken place, as we have information on possible shipments of illegal items, among them weapons,” said an agency spokesperson.
The official has denied prior information that all imports from Ukraine have been halted.
Russia may create its own "blacklist" of US officials as a response that will "mirror" the sanctions imposed by Washington on Moscow, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov.
According to Ryabkov, Russian authorities may make a list of certain American officials - representatives of administration, and "those from structures that influence American policies" in response to the sanctions that were declared on Russian high-ranking officials.
#Russia FM Sergey #Lavrov 's meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in Moscow @PressRUSUN@UNpic.twitter.com/uYek3JSeNa
— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) March 20, 2014
Self-defense forces in Crimea have dismissed at least 30 people who they accuse of being ultra-radical group activists and who have planned provocations recently, said Sergey Tutuev, deputy head of the National Defense Committee in Sevastopol.
“The aim of these activists was to enter Sevastopol and prepare provocations before the Crimean referendum [which took place on March 16]," he added.
The Ukrainian Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) has adopted a resolution on the rights of the Crimean Tatars in Ukraine. 284 MPs voted in favor of resolution.
Earlier in March, the Crimean authorities passed a resolution that guaranteed broader rights for the Crimean Tatar ethnic minority and granted their language official status.
Russia will recognize ranks and diplomas of Ukrainian soldiers and officers, who chose to join Russian armed forces in the wake of Crimea’s secession from Ukraine and upcoming incorporation into Russia. A decree to that effect was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the request of Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu.
The number of people killed during the violent Ukraine clashes that began on November 30, 2013, has reached 103, said the country’s health ministry.
Earlier there were reports of 102 dead and 1,419 injured.
Ukraine’s authorities are in no hurry to impose a visa regime on Russia, said the coup-appointed prime minister, Arseny Yatsenuk.
"Such an initiative by Ukraine is most unlikely to be effective in terms of influencing Russia," he said, adding that the measure could negatively affect Ukrainians living in the Russian-speaking east of the country.
On Wednesday, National Security and Defense Council chief, Andrey Parubiy, advised Ukraine to set up a visa regime with Russia. “Ukraine we will introduce a mechanism so that only Russians with travel passports can enter the country, until such a moment when formal visas can be issued,” he added.
Ukraine has asked the CIS executive committee to suspend the country’s presidency in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), said permanent representative of Ukraine to the CIS, Ivan Bunechko.
Bunchenko also added that he will leave office on Thursday.
The FSB has made progress in a large-scale effort to curb illegal firearms trade coming in from the EU into Ukraine, with the final destination being Russia, official agency sources say.
All sorts of transportation were used, from trains to cars, to even the postal service. A series of border arrests have been made and firearms seized.
The bill to ratify Ukraine’s departure from the CIS has to be approved by the Ukrainian Parliament (Verkhovna Rada), says Ivan Bunechko, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the CIS.
“The bill has been introduced, but the Rada has yet to approve it,” says Bunechko.
He added that Ukrainian authorities have definitely opted to give up the presidency of the CIS.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a speech in parliament that EU leaders would signal their readiness to ramp up punitive measures against Russia, including politically sensitive economic sanctions, at a summit starting on Thursday.
"The EU summit today and tomorrow will make clear that we are ready at any time to introduce phase-3 measures if there is a worsening of the situation," Merkel said.
She added that the Group of Eight format, which includes Russia, was effectively dead so long as the diplomatic showdown with Moscow continued. Russia has the presidency of the G8 and had been scheduled to hold a summit in Sochi in June. (Reuters)
According to the Sergey Lebedev, Executive Secretary of the CIS, all the CIS countries accepted the recent events in Ukraine with regret.
“All the member-states consider Ukraine an integral part of CIS and will always support Ukraine,” he added.
If Ukraine quits the Commonwealth it will influence the Ukrainian nation and the country’s economy negatively, he added.
Rear Admiral Sergey Gaiduk of the Ukrainian Navy and seven members of their naval force have been released in Crimea, said Andrey Senchenko, an MP in the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.
According to Senchenko, the rear admiral and servicemen were released in the village of Chonhar in the Kherson region, in southeastern Ukraine.
Earlier, there were reports indicating Gaiduk was detained by the Sevastopol prosecutor’s office.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that the appropriate legal steps for incorporating Crimea and Sevastopol into Russia are currently being taken and the process will be finalized by the end of the week. The FM spoke at a televised meeting with colleagues in the region.
Lavrov has once again stressed that Russia will remain dedicated to friendly relations with all partners and neighbors, provided that they are based on mutual trust and respect.
He also added that "we will continue to insist that any countries where our citizens may be based must fully respect their rights and freedoms."
Acting President of Ukraine Aleksandr Turchinov has introduced to the parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, a declaration which urges to continue fighting for the liberation of Ukraine.
“…the Ukrainian nation will never recognize the annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea…it will never stop fighting for [Crimea],” said the statement published on the Rada’s official website.
19 March 2014
Germany has suspended a deal to offer a fully-equipped training camp to Russia, Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel announced Wednesday. The facility, reportedly worth around US$140 million, that was to be built by military contractor Rheinmetall is currently “indefensible,” Gabriel said, according to AFP.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu called on Crimea to release Ukrainian commander of the Naval Forces Sergey Gaiduk, the Defense Ministry’s press service reported. The statement said that Gaiduk was detained on Wednesday, noting that he was following military orders and should not be prevented from leaving Crimea.
Earlier, local Kryminform news agency reported that Gaiduk was temporary detained for questioning in regards to passing along a military order from Kiev to use weapons against civilians.
The US will not get involved in a “military excursion” in Ukraine, President Barack Obama told San Diego’s KNSD TV, stressing that Washington will pursue diplomatic means in the standoff with Russia over Crimea.
"We are not going to be getting into a military excursion in Ukraine," Obama said.
"There is a better path, but I think even the Ukrainians would acknowledge that for us to engage Russia militarily would not be appropriate and would not be good for Ukraine either.”
The nationalist Svoboda party has submitted a law to the Rada that would break off official diplomatic relations between Moscow and Kiev.
So far, the text of the document has not been made public.
A senior Russian official has warned the West not to use the nuclear negotiations with Iran to exercise leverage over the Crimea issue.
“We wouldn’t like for the nuclear talks to be used to raise the stakes, in accordance with the mood in some European capitals, Brussels and Washington,” said deputy foreign minister Vladimir Ryabkov. “But if we are forced to, we will take our own measures in response.”
Russia has been discussing Iran’s nuclear development alongside the US, China, France, the UK, and Germany in Vienna this week. All other sides have insisted that the Crimea crisis has had no impact on the talks with Tehran.
OSCE media freedom representative outraged by attacks against managers of Ukrainian National TV @tv2breaking - http://t.co/04mJHqxXAD
— Russian Embassy (@RusEmbDK) March 19, 2014
The German government has denounced military technology group Rheinmetall’s plans to export combat equipment to Russia as unacceptable given the current situation in Ukraine and Crimea. “The German government considers the export of the combat simulation centre to Russia unacceptable in the current circumstances,” the economy ministry said in a statement made to Reuters. “The government is in contact with the company. At the moment no such export is foreseen,” the ministry added. Rheinmetall maintained earlier on Wednesday that it was still planning to deliver some $139 million of equipment –which had been ordered two years ago – to a Russian combat training centre.
RT correspondent Anastasia Churkina grilled spokesperson for the United States Department of State Jen Psaki about tweets she made earlier on Wednesday accusing Russia of being responsible for the shooting in at a Ukrainian base in Simferopol on Tuesday without clear evidence. “Stop the shooting in Simferopol. Clear that Russia shot first, and now must show restraint,” she wrote, shortly after tweeting: “Putin congratulates Ukraine soldiers for not firing their arms, and then allows one to be shot.”
Anastasia Churkina:You tweeted several hours ago “Stop the shooting in Simferopol. Clear that Russia shot first” - what is this clarity based on? What are the facts behind this statement?
Jen Psaki: Russia entered a Ukrainian base - that is clearly an act we have concerns about, and shows their level of aggression in this case, so I think events on the ground seem pretty clear, in our view. We were just expressing – I was just expressing – a concern about the reports we’re hearing on the ground.
AC: But now you talk about entering a base, but in the tweet you were saying that it is ‘clear that Russia shot first’ – that’s a pretty serious allegation - where is this information coming from? There have been plenty of conflicting reports over what has actually been happening in Simferopol.
JP: Let’s me just say, we don’t see how it’s possibly true that the Russians claimed that – they were not – that someone else was the aggressor, that the Ukrainians were the aggressors, given that they entered the Ukrainian base.
AC:They’re not saying that, they’re saying it’s a provocation whereas you’re saying that it’s very clear...
JP: ...They have said that a little bit, I think we’re ready to move on. Do we have another topic?
Ukraine’s General Prosecution office has promised to launch an impartial investigation of violent actions by deputies from the nationalist Freedom (Svoboda) Party, who bullied the interim head of Ukraine’s national TV into signing his resignation. An investigation has been launched. According to acting general prosecutor, Oleg Makhnitsky, investigators want to find out “the motives and reasons, which led to the conflict.” As soon as a preliminary investigation is over, he vowed to give “fair legal assessment” of all parts of the conflict.
Moscow on Wednesday called Ukraine's argument against the referendum in Crimea to become part of Russia "strange, illogical and legally ignorant".
Russia's Foreign Ministry, in a statement on its website, said that Ukraine, which has said it will not recognize the referendum, was "openly distorting and arbitrarily interpreting the norms of international law". (Reuters)
The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine has instructed the Foreign Ministry to introduce visas for Russian citizens entering the country, according to a statement by department secretary Andrey Parubiy.
Russians and Ukrainians have been able to travel freely between the two nations since the break-up of the Soviet Union.
In recent weeks, Ukrainian officials have turned back some Russian citizens entering their territory over ostensible concerns that they may take part in protests against the coup-imposed government in Kiev.
Parubiy, who was speaking to the media in Kiev, also said that Ukraine would appeal to the UN to turn Crimea into a demilitarized zone. Similar UN-mandated zones exist between North and South Korea, and Turkish and Greek Cyprus, as well as in several territories adjacent to Israel.
Acting Ukrainian President Aleksandr Turchinov has given Crimean authorities until 7 p.m. GMT to release commander of the Ukrainian navy, Admiral Sergey Gaiduk, and other Ukrainian personnel who were detained after being evicted from a base in Sevastopol earlier on Wednesday.
“Unless Admiral Gaiduk and all the other hostages - both military and civilian - are released, the authorities will carry out an adequate response... of a technical and technological nature," said Turchinov on the official government website.
The politician went on to say that Russian military officials “have cynically refused to negotiate, saying the detention was the responsibility of the self-proclaimed government of Crimea,” and said that a plane containing senior Ukrainian officials, who had arrived for talks, was not allowed to land in the region.
Earlier, the Crimean prosecutor’s office confirmed they detained Gaiduk over “orders from Kiev to use force against civilians.”
The first passports have been handed out to the new Russian citizens in Crimea on Wednesday, the head of the Federal Migration Service said.
Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov has urged the Ukrainian military in the republic to swear allegiance to the people of Crimea, or lay down their arms and leave, Itar-Tass news agency reports.
“I appeal to all soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces based on the peninsula – in order to avoid bloodshed and further deterioration of the situation – don’t give in to provocations, make an unambiguous choice and swear allegiance to the people of Crimea,” Aksyonov said.
The PM added that “free exit from the Crimean territory” will be guaranteed to those servicemen and their families, who decide to remain in the Ukrainian army.
As Crimea prosecutors say the investigation into the Simferopol shooting is on-going, the US State Department seems to have had the answers from the very start.
#Putin congratulates #Ukraine soldiers for not firing their arms, and then allows one to be shot. #RussiaIsolated@UkrProgress
— Jen Psaki (@statedeptspox) March 19, 2014
Stop the shooting in #Simferopol. Clear that #Russia shot first, and now must show restraint. #Ukraine@UkrProgress
— Jen Psaki (@statedeptspox) March 19, 2014
International energy major Royal Dutch Shell decided to break off talks over participation in the development of an offshore gas field in Ukraine in January, a company spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
"In January 2014, Shell exited negotiations on a production sharing agreement (PSA) related to the Skifska block in the deepwater shelf of the Black Sea," the spokeswoman said.
"Shell had expected that the PSA would be signed in 2012 or 2013, but unfortunately it didn't happen," she said, adding that the company continues to work in other energy projects in Ukraine.
Skifska, predominantly a gas field, was estimated to hold reserves of 200 to 250 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas and was expected to eventually produce 5 bcm a year.
Ukraine picked a consortium led by ExxonMobil and Shell to develop its Skifska gas field in August 2012, but talks on details were ongoing. The government also picked Shell and Chevron as partners in projects to explore and develop two potentially large onshore shale gas fields. (Reuters)
Europe offers further €1bn aid to #Ukraine, conditions to be agreed with IMF in coming weeks http://t.co/FgtytHJ8NN
— RT (@RT_com) March 19, 2014
The Russian Defense Ministry has said Britain’s decision to suspend military cooperation will do nothing to provide for bilateral security aims, and in fact will undermine enormous work that has been done over the past half-year.
“Unilateral curtailment of military cooperation negates all the positive developments that we have diligently worked out over the last six months,” deputy defense ministry head Anatoly Antonov told journalists on Wednesday. Antonov said both sides have made substantial efforts to develop “mutually beneficial” military ties.
He pointed out Russian cooperation during the Olympic games in London had boosted British security. The minister added that the two countries had a series of joint activities slated for 2014, most of which would be carried out in Russia.
Russia will not be demanding early debt repayment from Ukraine, according to Russia's Deputy Finance Minister, Sergey Storchak. Russia has interests in ensuring that the country becomes financially stable.
"We support the efforts of the IMF, in order to begin substantial work with the Ukrainian authorities for financial and economic stabilization," Storchak stated.
A press briefing was held to address the situation with the two deaths and two further injuries at the hands of unknown snipers shooting at Crimean and Ukrainian military personnel in Simferopol.
“Experts familiar with the crime scene believe the crimes perpetrated today bear a strong resemblance to the actions of snipers on the Maidan on February 18-21,” Crimean prosecutor, Natalya Poklonskaya, told journalists.
Detailing what happened, she recounted how several unarmed officers of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, in prior agreement with the commander of the Ukrainian armed forces and with Kiev, have come to oversee progress on a joint matter regarding mapping.
Several of their colleagues, who at the time were outside the secure area of the compound, were fired upon. Bullets came from a similar direction, but several trajectories, resulting in the death of two officers on both sides and a further two injuries. An investigation is ongoing and the charges are in line with Article 115 of the Ukrainian criminal code – murder.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon departs on Wednesday for Moscow and Kiev, where he will hold talks with Russian and Ukrainian leaders and push for a peaceful resolution of the crisis over Crimea, the United Nations said.
"His first stop will be Moscow, where tomorrow, 20 March, he will meet with President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other senior officials," the UN press office said in a statement.
He will travel to Kiev on Friday, where he will hold talks with top Ukrainian officials, members of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission and representatives of civil society. (Reuters)
Ukraine has decided to end its presidency of the CIS in 2014 and refused to preside over the organization of former Soviet Republics, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said.
President Vladimir Putin has submitted a treaty between Russia and Crimea to the parliament for ratification, which would make Crimea part of Russia, and an amendment to the Russian constitution, which would list Crimea as part of the federation.
Parliament Speaker Sergey Naryshkin said MPs will consider both initiatives at an emergency session on Thursday. Russian senators are likely to do the same on Friday.
The shooting near a military research center in Crimea which left two people dead is a provocation, Russian envoy to NATO Aleksandr Grushko told the alliance.
“We informed them that we treat the incident as a provocation. No Russian troops took part in it. There was no siege of a base, as the Ukrainian authorities reported. An investigation into what happened is underway. Those responsible would not go with impunity,” he later told Interfax.
The incident in Simferopol happened Tuesday near a small Ukrainian military topography research center. One Ukrainian soldier from the center and one Crimean self-defense trooper were killed in a shooting. Crimean authorities said both were killed by a sniper.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has slammed the US and EU for double standards in the situation with Crimea, saying that the Western policy led to the collapse of “Ukrainian democracy.” He recalled the Kosovo and Falkland Islands referendums as evidence of “a double standards game.”
“This is a double standards game. So it was legal, from the point of view of international politics, to separate Serbia 10 years ago and take away Kosovo from it through a referendum. It turns out that trying to take away the Falkland Islands, which are located here in Latin America, through a forged and illegal referendum, was justified for Europe and Britain. But when it comes to the people of Crimea, who want a referendum and choose a peaceful future for themselves, this is illegal,” Maduro said a cited by RT’s Spanish sister channel, Actualidad RT.
He said that “what happened in Kiev” comes in response to “the policy that led to the collapse the Ukrainian democracy.”
“There is only one culprit here - the anti-Russian policy by the US and part of Europe. They want to surround Russia to weaken it, to level it with the land, destroy it. This ‘old’ dream, which some international elite is chasing, is 300 years,” Maduro said.
Britain warned President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday that Russia could face permanent exclusion from the G8 if the Kremlin took further steps against Ukraine.
"I think we should be discussing whether or not to expel Russia permanently from the G8 if further steps are taken," Prime Minister David Cameron told the British Parliament. (Reuters)
President Putin has ordered the Labor Ministry to urgently increase pensions in Crimea to conform to Russian standards, once the peninsula officially joins Russia.
“All Russian citizens must be in equal conditions. Doing this is your task. And don’t waste time, do it as soon as possible,” he told Labor Minister Maksim Topilin.
There are about 677,000 people in Crimea eligible to receive pension from the government. Most of them would have the payments increased by 1.8 to 2 times after the reunification, according to the ministry estimates.
The transition however requires some legislation to be adopted.
The Commander of the Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, Vice-Admiral Aleksandr Vitko, has called Crimea shooting “provocation”, saying that back on March 14, Black Sea Fleet officials had already warned about possible provocations.
“What happened in Simferopol yesterday is, unambiguously, a provocation – having the work of a sniper, similar to those at Maidan, written all over it. As a result, two people died. Nevertheless, the hotheads in the current leadership of Ukraine gave [their troops] permission to use weapons. I want to warn those and, above all, the personnel of the Ukrainian Navy - God forbid anyone will shoot, even from a slingshot. Matches are not toys. I ask to understand it literally,” Vitko said.
Kerch Strait Bridge between the Chushka Spit, Taman Peninsula, south-eastern Russia and the Kerch Peninsula, Crimea, will be built for both cars and trains, said Vladimir Putin during the press-conference.
The bridge project also aims at building a tunnel under the Kerch Strait, according to the Russian Minister for Transportation, Maksim Sokolov.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Wednesday he had told his Russian counterpart that a mandate for a mission by Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) observers to Ukraine must be agreed within 24 hours.
Steinmeier told reporters he had spoken to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the Chairman of the OSCE and that they had overcome differences on the number of staff to be sent but still had to agree on the regions to be visited.
"We need an observer mission now and in my conversations this morning I said agreement on a mandate must take place within the next 24 hours," Steinmeier told a news conference. (Reuters)
The US and the EU, which encouraged the armed coup in Kiev, are the ones who violated the Budapest memorandum (the document guaranteeing Ukraine’s territorial integrity in exchange for nuclear disarmament) the Russian foreign ministry charged. The 1994 memorandum was signed by Russia, the UK and the US as guarantors.
“One can’t but ask: how did all those guarantees correspond to the threats of sanctions against the Ukrainian leadership, which the EU and the US voiced on many occasions during the riots in Kiev? What were they if not an economic coercion applied to a sovereign state?” the ministry said in a statement.
“What about the virtually constant presence of western envoys at Maidan?” the ministry added. “How should one take statements coming from the US and the EU, which said they did not see the lawfully elected head of state as a legitimate partner, and instead welcomed the new leaders appointed at the square in violation of all constitutional procedures?”
The statement comes in response to criticism of Russia for recognizing Crimea as a sovereign state following a referendum and its intention to accept the breakaway Ukrainian region as part of Russia. Critics said Russia violated the Budapest memorandum in so doing.
More than 30 Ukrainian soldiers have left Ukraine’s Navy HQ in Crimea’s Sevastopol after the building was taken over by unarmed pro-Russian activists. Many of them were welcomed at the gates by their friends and relatives living in the city.
The move follows closed door negotiations between the Kiev-appointed head of Ukrainian Navy Vice Admiral Sergey Gaiduk and head of Russian Black Sea Fleet Vice Admiral Aleksandr Vitko. The Russian admiral arrived at the scene to ensure a peaceful transition of the headquarters.
Earlier Crimean authorities said that all Ukrainian troops deployed in the peninsula may peacefully leave for Ukraine or stay and choose between resigning and enlisting in the Russian army, once Crimea becomes part of the Russian Federation.
The Russian Constitutional Court has ruled that the international treaty between Russia and Crimea, which would make the latter part of the former, does not violate the Russian constitution.
The decision was taken unanimously, the court Chair Valery Zorkin said.
The court’s ruling on the treaty, which was signed earlier on Tuesday, was needed before the document could be ratified by the Russian parliament. The ratification process is expected to be completed in both chambers of the parliament on Friday.
Meanwhile in Kiev Ukrainian Constitutional Court is reviewing on Wednesday Crimea’s declaration of independence.
The session started with Judge Oleg Sergeychuk refusing to participate due to “direct influence on the judges of the Constitutional Court, violation of their independent status and threats of prosecution” on the part of the coup-imposed government. He said that any ruling issued in such conditions would not be considered as legitimate by the Ukrainian society. That rejection was in turn dismissed by other judges.
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy cannot travel to Moscow to meet President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, because Brussels has denied him permission, according to Russia’s interior ministry.
“His European colleagues didn’t let him go to Moscow,” added the statement from the ministry.
Van Rompuy wanted to visit Moscow to discuss the latest events in Ukraine including Crimea joining Russia after the referendum on March 16. Russian authorities had welcomed the EC president’s decision and confirmed that such a meeting had been planned and that the aforesaid issues had been expected to be discussed.
Ukrainian armed forces commander Mikhail Kucin, has informed his Russian counterpart Valery Gerasimov that he has authorized the use of military force by troops stationed in Crimea, according to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry.
In a phone conversation with Gerasimov, Kucin has emphasized de-escalation and a political solution to the crisis, rather than a violent one. The green light to use force has been given by him in the aftermath of the events in Simferopol, which have led to the death of one Ukrainian soldier and another from the Crimean Self-Defense Forces, while two others were injured.
Western sanctions against Russia over Crimea are unacceptable, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told US Secretary of State John Kerry in a statement released by Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday. Lavrov warned of consequences in the future.
"[Crimea] republic residents made their democratic choice in line with the international law and the UN charter, which Russia accepts and respects," the statement said, "while the sanctions introduced by the United States and the European Union are unacceptable and will not remain without consequences."
The UN Security Council is scheduled to meet Wednesday to discuss the situation in Ukraine; it will be the council's first meeting since the referendum in Crimea. A planned meeting for the UN General Assembly scheduled for Thursday on the same topic has been canceled.
18 March 2014
If the EU and US pursue economic sanctions, Russia will find other economic partners to do business with, the Russian president’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told BBC in an interview. Sanctions against Russia are inappropriate, but Russia will continue to offer economic cooperation to the EU, Peskov added.
The White House urged investors to stay away from Russian stocks in an attempt to further impact Russia's economy following the Crimean referendum.
"I wouldn't, if I were you, invest in Russian equities right now, unless you're going short," White House spokesman Jay Carney said at a press briefing.
Ukraine’s marine guards are leaving the peninsula, according to the Ukrainian Border Ministry, Itar-Tass reports. The ministry says the guards will join up with units that have already been moved out of the region.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has condemned Russia for signing the treaty of accession with Crimea, saying Moscow has embarked on a "dangerous path," Reuters reports.
"I condemn President [Vladimir] Putin's announcement of new laws incorporating Crimea into the Russian Federation," Rasmussen said in a statement.
"Russia has disregarded all calls to step back into line with international law and continues down the dangerous path...There can be no justification to continue on this course of action that can only deepen Russia's international isolation. Crimea's annexation is illegal and illegitimate and NATO allies will not recognize it."
Speaking about the shooting in Simferopol Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov told Russia’s Channel One that this attack is reminiscent of the Maidan sniper shootings.
“At the moment two people are dead as a result of a provocation, a sabotage. The situation allows me to conclude that the same techniques that were used at Maidan are being used now because most likely one assaulter fired at both sides – one Ukrainian serviceman and one man from self-defense forces of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea were killed.”
“The location of the sniper was identified,” he added.
“The sanctions introduced by the United States and the European Union are unacceptable and will not remain without consequences," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told his US counterpart John Kerry during a phone conversation on Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported. Kerry earlier threatened new sanctions in response to Russia’s decision to officially incorporate Crimea into its territory in the coming weeks. So far, the US and Europe have said only that they will freeze the assets of a small number of officials, and bar them from entering their territories.
Instead of sanctions, Lavrov suggested returning to the constitutional agreements negotiated before Viktor Yanukovich’s ousting, and proposed that OSCE observers be sent in to monitor “provocations by radical forces targeting Russian speakers and citizens.”
More than 600,000 Russians poured onto streets across the country on Tuesday to support Crimeans and celebrate the results of the referendum, according to Russian Interior Ministry estimates. The biggest demonstration was in Moscow, where police recorded an attendance of more than 120,000. There was not a single incident of public disorder at any of the demonstrations.
No decision to exclude Russia from the G8 group of leading industrialized countries has been made, German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said, as reported by Interfax news agency.
However, she added that all the preparations for the G8 summit, which was scheduled to take place in the Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi in June, are currently on hold.
Earlier, French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, has said the Group of Eight suspended Russia’s participation in their meetings.
Ukraine and the international community will never recognize the accession of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol to the Russian Federation, Ukraine’s coup-appointed president, Aleksandr Turchinov, said.
“The divestiture of our country’s territories will never take place. Ukraine and the whole civilized world will never recognize the annexation of the Ukrainian land,” Turchinov is cited as saying by the Unian news agency.
The coup-appointed president, who was talking at a teleconference at the Defense Ministry, also promised that Ukraine’s defensive capabilities will be drastically increased.
Coup-appointed Ukrainian PM Arseny Yatsenyuk reached out to the southern and eastern parts of the country during a Russian-language address in Kiev.
In a largely conciliatory speech, Yatsenyuk promised that the country would not join NATO “for the sake of maintaining its territorial intergrity,” and assured Russian speakers that their language will retain official status in regions with significant percentages of native Russian speakers.
“We have drawn conclusions from the period 2005-2014. We are no longer going to impose our values upon everyone. But each one of us must be tolerant and accept that due to a variety of circumstances we are living alongside people who simply do not think the same way as us,” he said.
But the politician maintained an unbending position on Crimea and Russia.
Yatsenyuk blamed the Kremlin for “destabilizing” the peninsula, and accused it of trying to do the same in eastern Ukraine, by “orchestrating small but aggressive demonstrations.”
“We have gathered definitive evidence that Russian security agencies are behind the protests in the east of the country. Infiltrators have been arrested. Those who want to spark war have no place in Ukraine,” claimed Yatsenyuk.
Argentina has condemned the international community for not accepting the results of the Crimean referendum, President Cristina Kirchner said, citing a UN Charter that stipulates the right of people to self-determination.
She has compared Crimea to the Falkland Islands, a disputed territory, claimed by both Argentina and the United Kingdom. The Falkland Islands also held a referendum a year ago.
"Many of the major powers, which have secured the Falklands’ people right to self-determination, do not want to do the same in relation to the Crimea now,” she said. “How can you call yourselves guarantors of world stability, if you do not apply the same standards for everyone? It looks like the Crimeans cannot express their will, but the residents of the Falklands can. There is zero logic in that."
Vladimir Putin has gone to Red Square where over 110,000 are taking part in a rally to support the signing of a treaty of accession of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol to the Russian Federation.
“We’ve all done a lot, but there’s much more to be done; plenty of tasks to solve,” Putin addressed the new Russian citizens in the Crimea and Sevastopol. “But I’m confident that we’ll overcome everything, solve every task because we are united.”
The Crimean Tatars have long dreamt about re-integration with Russia, the representative of the local Tatar community told the Itar-Tass news agency.
The Tatars are also counting on constructive collaboration with the authorities of the new federal subject, Sevastopol.
“We’ve dreamt about this day for a long time. Ukraine just maintained the appearance of problems being solved, but in reality just fueled conflicts,” Lenur Usmanov said.
President Obama has invited G7 leaders for a meeting in Europe next week to discuss further action on Ukraine.
Over 110,000 people in central Moscow celebrated Crimea’s accession to Russia after President Putin and Crimean officials signed a treaty to accept Crimea and Sevastopol.
WATCH LIVE: Mass rally on Red Square backs #Crimea-Russia reunion http://t.co/GYHcQ5scQjpic.twitter.com/MRNXAbJY3Q
— RT (@RT_com) March 18, 2014
US Vice President Joe Biden has issued a robust condemnation of the reunification of Russia and Crimea, calling it a “land grab” based on an “illegitimate” referendum.
"Russia stood alone, naked in front of the world," said Biden, referring to the UN Security Council vote on the referendum in which Russia was outvoted 13-1, with China abstaining.
Biden also said that Washington and Brussels are deciding upon a “new level” of sanctions after Moscow accepted the results of the vote, in which almost 97 percent of Crimeans chose to secede from Ukraine.
Standing next to Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk, on the first stop of a whirlwind tour of Eastern Europe, Biden simultaneously urged more support for the regime in Kiev.
As well as the West and international bodies offering Kiev a number of loans, Biden said that Poland was discussing channeling some of its Russian gas to Ukraine, in anticipation of a price hike from Moscow.
Britain has suspended bilateral military co-operation with Russia that is not subject to treaty obligations, Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Tuesday, responding to Russian moves to annex Ukraine's Crimea region.
Hague said this included cancelling a planned French-Russian-UK-United States naval exercise and suspending a proposed Royal Navy ship visit to St Petersburg.
Hague also said Britain would be pushing for the strongest possible package of further sanctions against Russia that could be agreed among European leaders when the European Union council meets later this week. (Reuters)
Ukraine neither recognizes the accession of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol into the Russian Federation nor the independence of the breakaway Republic of Crimea, the coup-imposed Foreign Ministry said.
“We don’t recognize and will never recognize either the so-called independence or the so-called agreement on accession of Crimea into Russia,” Evgeny Perebiynis, the head of the ministry’s information department, is cited as saying by Interfax-Ukraine.
Despite over 96 per cent of Crimeans voting to secede from Ukraine and join Russia, Perebiynis believes that the decision to accept the Crimea as part of the Russia Federation is legally unfounded and undemocratic.
“What happened today in Moscow, has nothing in common with democracy,” he stressed.
President Vladimir Putin has chosen the path to Russia's isolation by moving to annex Ukraine's Crimea region, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Tuesday.
"It was regrettable to hear President Putin today choosing the route of isolation, denying the citizens of his own country, and of Crimea, partnership with the international community and full membership of a range of international organisations," Hague said in a statement to parliament.
Hague also said there was grave danger that a provocation elsewhere in Ukraine could be used as a pretext for a further military escalation. He said that it was highly likely that other G8 countries would now want to meet without Russia. (Reuters)
Moscow will make reprisals with regard to sanctions imposed on Russia by the European Union, the country’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“Attempts to talk to Russia using ‘language of force’, threatening Russian citizens with sanctions leads to nowhere,” the ministry stressed. “Adaptation of restrictive measures isn’t our choice, but it’s obvious that the implementation of sanctions against us won’t be left without an adequate response from Russia.”
Moscow has also urged the EU to “stop ignoring and distorting facts, give up outright use of double standards for the sake of geopolitical interests” as it “hinders constructive cooperation between Russia and the European Union on the issue of ensuring stability and prosperity in Europe.”
Thousands of cheering citizens in downtown Sevastopol today greeted the televised address by President Putin that the Crimea and Sevastopol have joined the Russian Federation. The Nakhimov Square was filled with people waving Russian flags and other symbols of the country’s cultural and military history. The speech received widespread applause, as champagne bottles were cracked and people hugged and kissed.
City administration deputy, Dmitry Belik, has told Itar-Tass that “the Crimea and Sevastopol returned home… this is a celebration we’ve been expecting for 20 years.”
People taking down "Crimea's High Council" letters from the parliament building in Simferopol, RT's Alexey Yaroshevsky reports.
The Russian president’s senior foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov has put in doubt the effectiveness of sanctions as the mechanism of influence used by the international community.
"You have already heard comments made by my colleagues, who have been put on the sanctions list. I think we are tired of sanctions; they excite a sense of irony and even sarcasm,” he told journalists when asked if Russia plans reciprocal sanctions against the US and the EU.
Crowds gathered in Sevastopol center square as President Putin is to deliver his address to Russia's Parliament members over Crimea.
Sergey Aksenov, the Prime-Minister and commander of the armed forces of Crimea, has ordered the Ukrainian forces remaining on the peninsula to hand in their resignation and be absorbed into the Crimean armed forces, Itar-Tass reports. The order comes as part of Crimea’s new declaration of independence.
France has postponed a 2+2 meeting with Russia, in which Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian were due to travel to Russia on Tuesday and meet their counterparts in Moscow.
The decision was due to the ongoing Ukrainian crisis and Paris reluctance to send the wrong message to Russia by visiting it at this time, Fabius told Europe 1 radio.
The French minister added that members of the Group of Eight suspended Russia’s participation in their meetings and are considering excluding Russia altogether and returning to the original G7 format.
#Ukraine#Crimée Pour le 6 juin, le président reste invité mais pour le G8 nous avons décidé de suspendre la participation de la #Russie
— Laurent Fabius (@LaurentFabius) March 18, 2014
Fabius said that the proposed cancelation of the Russian contract to build Mistral-class amphibious assault vessels at French shipyards would only be possible in economic sanctions against Russia were expanded “at a general level.” Other countries would have to make sacrifices on par with France in pressuring Moscow, he explained.
President Putin approved the draft treaty of the agreement on Crimea’s integration into the territory of the Russian Federation. The President deems the agreement “rational.”
“I approve the draft treaty between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Crimea about the integration of the Republic of Crimea into Russian territory and the formation of new federal subjects. I consider it rational to sign an agreement envisaged by this decree at the highest level,” the document reads.
Tokyo is set to impose sanctions against Russia after it recognized Crimea as an independent state, a top government spokesman said on Tuesday. The “Japanese government does not recognize the referendum in Crimea," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has said. As part of the sanctions Japan will suspend talks on an investment pact and relaxation of visa requirements. "The recognition of Crimean independence by Russia violates Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and is regrettable," Suga told a news conference.
Crimea is self-sufficient in terms of food stocks for at least a month in case there is a disruption in supply, Interfax quoted Crimea’s Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliev as saying in an interview to ‘Rossiyskaya Gazeta’. Temirgaliev also said that Crimea has gas reserves for a year.
As a new Russian entity Crimea will be incorporated into existing development programs only in two to three years, Regional Development Minister Igor Slyunyaev said in an interview with Kommersant to be released Tuesday.
Fireworks lit up the night as more than a thousand supporters celebrated the result of the Crimean referendum at a pro-Russia rally in Sevastopol on Monday, Ruptly news agency reports.
Participants waved Russian flags while chanting slogans such as "Crimea, Sevastopol, Russia,""Fascism will not pass" and "Thank you Putin," and donned clothes that featured the Russian colours and symbols.
17 March 2014
The head of Ukraine’s Donetsk regional administration Sergey Taruta along with his brother used their own finances to dig a trench on the border with Russia to reportedly ensure security in the area, Interfax Ukraine reported.
Russia will ask Ukraine to pay $20 billion debt dating back to the Soviet Union era, if Kiev tries to revise the agreement that regulated the partition of property upon the dissolution of the USSR, Itar-Tass quoted Russia’s Foreign Ministry as saying.
Canada has introduced additional sanctions following the Crimean referendum. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced new economic sanctions and travel bans against some Russian and Ukrainian officials “responsible for the crisis”.
“Today, our Government is announcing additional sanctions that will serve to further isolate Russia from the international community,” Harper said in a statement. “Targeted sanctions through regulations under the Special Economic Measures Act build on sanctions already in place, and are being imposed against senior Russian officials as well as additional Ukrainian officials. The individuals targeted are responsible for undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and for facilitating Russian military action against Ukraine.”
Delegates of the Inter-Parliamentary Union that met in Geneva refused to consider a resolution on the recent events in Ukraine, titled "Russian aggression against Ukraine”. The resolution was submitted by the delegations of Ukraine and Canada, which demanded that Moscow withdraw its troops from the territory of Crimea.
UK proposed to give NATO its RAF fighters to participate in a mission to patrol the airspace in Eastern Europe beginning at the end of April, AP quoted the British Defense Minister Philip Hammond as saying in an address to the British Parliament.
Germany and the European Union did not seek sanctions against 21 individuals alleged to be connected to the unstable political situation in Crimea, but were forced to do so following the Crimean referendum that was 'in clear breach' of international law, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said during a press conference in Berlin on Monday, Ruptly news agency reports.
Merkel's words came as she met with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. The Chancellor also added that she believed continued diplomatic discussions are the key to solving the crisis.
Crimea’s Sunday referendum will worsen an “already complex and tense situation” in Ukraine, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was quoted by the spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric on Monday. “He encourages all parties to work for a solution that is guided by the principles of the United Nations Charter, including respecting Ukraine’s unity and sovereignty,” said Dujarric.
France "may consider" cancelling the sale of Mistral-class warships to Russia in the case of further escalation in Ukraine, French media quoted the French Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent as saying.
Ukraine recalled its ambassador to Russia for consultations, Itar-Tass reported, quoting the Information Policy Department of Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry.
Ukraine recalled its ambassador to Russia on Monday for consultations on the international ramifications of the situation in its Crimea region, which has voted to join Russia.
"In connection with the situation in Crimea and the necessity of discussing some of its international aspects, the Ukrainian side is recalling its ambassador to the Russian Federation, Vladimir Yelchenko," the Foreign Ministry said. (Reuters)
The names of Russian individuals who fall under the EU’s additional sanctions have been compiled independently of the US and without consultations with the Western neighbor, EU’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said during a press-conference.
The US has imposed sanctions against Russian and Ukrainian officials on Monday, with the White House stating that "the actions and policies" of the Russian government with respect to Ukraine "undermine democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine; threaten its peace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity; and contribute to the misappropriation of its assets."
NATO and Ukraine confirmed the intention to expand military cooperation and further develop Ukrainian military capabilities, Itar-Tass quoted NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen as saying after a meeting in Brussels.
The border crossing procedures will change within two months, Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov said.
“There will be a transitional period for some time. I think that in two months these problems will be solved,” he said. There is no customs “in the direct sense,” he said, adding that “we do not prevent goods crossing the border, we don’t have customs clearance.”
The prime minister said that the transitional period will be "soft enough" for entrepreneurs to regroup in accordance with the Russian legislation to sign new contracts. "Now everything is being developed, and in a day or two we will issue the appropriate declaration."
European Union foreign ministers have agreed to impose sanctions including travel bans and asset freezes on 21 officials from Russia and Ukraine, Lithuania's foreign minister said on Monday.
After a meeting lasting around three hours, the EU's 28 foreign ministers quickly reached agreement on the list of those to be sanctioned.
"(Foreign Affairs Council) just agreed on sanctions - travel restrictions & assets freeze against 21 officials from Ukraine & Russia," Linas Linkevicius wrote in a message on Twitter.
He added that more measures would follow in a few days, when EU leaders meet for a summit in Brussels. They are expected to expand the list to include more senior figures closer to Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Reuters)
Crimeans adopt Russian Ruble as second offical currency, with Ukrainian Hryvna until 2016 http://t.co/Ton2EnhO1W#Crimeareferendum#Crimea
— RT (@RT_com) March 17, 2014
The Crimean parliament has approved the creation of a border police service and a number of other official bodies, said the Crimean State Council. The nascent administrative bodies will include a fisheries agency, a statistics department, and a commission for geology and natural resources. Furthermore, a number of administrative bodies have been turned into ministries following the referendum.
The German government does not recognize the results of Crimea’s referendum on the grounds that it violates the Ukrainian constitution and is illegal under international law, said representative from the German cabinet Stefan Siebert.
“This referendum contradicts the Ukrainian constitution and international law. We regard it as illegal,” he said.
The Russian Federation has donated $408 million to Crimea in aid, Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov has announced.
European Union foreign ministers will agree sanctions on around 20 people in Russia and Crimea on Monday, ministers and officials said, with the possibility of adding further names to the list when EU leaders meet later in the week.
Those targeted in the first phase will include politicians responsible for calling for and organising Sunday's referendum in Crimea, when 97 percent of voters decided to secede from Ukraine and join Russia.
The EU says the referendum was illegal and does not recognise the result.
"We are talking approximately about 20 people," Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek told reporters, saying the list was focused on "political individuals" behind events in Crimea, not on business people. (Reuters)
Ukraine's coup-imposed president Aleksandr Turchinov slammed Crimea's referendum as a "great farce" on Monday, in a first reaction from Kiev after the peninsula voted overwhelmingly to split from Kiev and join Russia.
Speaking in parliament, Turchinov condemned "the continued aggression in Crimea that Russia is trying to conceal with this great farce that they call a referendum and that will never be recognised either by Ukraine or by the civilised world." (AFP)
The Republic of Crimea has addressed the UN seeking recognition as a sovereign state and called on Russia to integrate it into the Russian Federation. 96.77 percent of the Crimean population voted ‘for’ the integration in a referendum.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will address the Federal Assembly on the integration of Crimea into the Russian Federation on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the State Duma told press. The address will begin at 15:00 Moscow time (11:00 GMT).
Russia’s State Duma will consider a draft statement on the situation in Crimea on March 18.
“Tomorrow morning we will consider a statement on Crimea, as proposed by the leaders of the four factions and [Speaker] Sergey Naryshkin,” said the lower house of parliament’s first deputy speaker, Ivan Melnikov, RIA Novosti reported.
Melnikov said the draft statement will be the first item on the Duma’s agenda.
Ukraine's parliament, seeking to boost the country's military force, endorsed on Monday a presidential decree to carry out a partial mobilisation involving 40,000 reservists.
Andrey Parubiy, the coup-imposed Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, told parliament that 20,000 reservists would be deployed within the armed forces and the rest would be used within the newly-created National Guard. (Reuters)
All the necessary measures to ensure the legislative decisions concerning Crimea’s integration into the Russian Federation will be taken promptly, the United Russia party’s General Council Secretary Sergey Neverov said, as quoted by ITAR-TASS.
“The results of the referendum have shown that Crimea’s people only see their future in the integration into the Russian Federation, the population has voted to reunite the people that have always been living together,” Neverov added.
Currently, 75 percent of the ballots have been counted, with 95.7 percent of the Crimean population voting ‘for’ the integration of Crimea into the Russian Federation. The turnout was 82 percent.
In response to Dmitry Yarosh threat to sabotage the infrastructure that transits Russian gas through the territory of Ukraine, the newly formed Ukrainian National Guard and security forces have reportedly secured control over the infrastructure.
"This decision was made to ensure the safety and smooth operation of the country's critical infrastructure," Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a statement.
16 March 2014
A voluntary conscription into Ukraine's National Guard has been announced, after the special security unit was created on Friday. The force is to comprise of some 60,000 men with an option to increase the numbers.
The referendum in Crimea was fully consistent with international law, President Vladimir Putin told Barack Obama in a phone conversation. The citizens of the peninsula have been provided an opportunity to freely express their will and exercise their right to self-determination, the Russian president said, according to Kremlin’s press service. Both leaders agreed that despite the existing differences in the assessment of the situation in Ukraine, they must jointly seek to help stabilize the situation in the country, the Kremlin said.
Around 95 percent of voters in the Crimean referendum have answered ‘yes’ to the autonomous republic joining Russia and less than 5 percent of the vote participants want the region to remain part of Ukraine, according to preliminary results.
Ukrainians now can send a text message to support their national army as a campaign has been launched by the new authorities in Kiev. A text message will charge a donor around $0.5, while the National Security Council’s website also lists several bank account numbers. Soon after President Viktor Yanukovich was ousted from his post by a coup, the treasury was proclaimed almost empty. A short promo movie supporting the campaign says 40,000 have been mobilized and require aid to keep up operational capabilities.
Demonstrators in Kharkov, north-east Ukraine, have appealed to Russia to pass to the UN their demands over a referendum on the federalization, while hundreds of protesters in Donetsk stormed a prosecutor’s office demanding to free a local “governor”.
About 93 percent of voters in the Crimean referendum have answered ‘yes’ to the autonomous republic joining the Russian Federation. Only 7 percent of the vote participants want the region to remain part of Ukraine, according to first exit polls.
73.41% percent of Crimea’s residents had voted by 1600 GMT, the local parliament’s commission on the referendum said.
The turnout has reached 73.4% at the referendum in Crimea two hours before polling stations are closed, chairman of the referendum commission Mikhail Malyshev said.
"A total 1,122,999 million people have voted," the referendum commission chairman said, adding "The turnout in Sevastopol has amounted to 83.5%."
The Crimean referendum is illegal and illegitimate and its outcome will not be recognized, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said in a joint statement on Sunday, Reuters reports.
The referendum on Crimea’s status is going peacefully, with record-breaking turnout, international observers report. Most of them told RT that the referendum is credible and the vote of the Crimean people should be respected.
Thus, observer Ewald Stadler member of the European Parliament, dispelled the “referendum at gunpoint” myth, by saying he felt people were free to make their choice.
“I haven’t seen anything even resembling pressure,” he said. “People themselves want to have their say.”
Many were impressed by the turnout, which appeared to be so high as to have people stand in lines to get to the ballot box in the morning. The turnout for the referendum in Crimea at 17.00 local time (15.00 GMT) was 70 per cent, the referendum’s website said.
Activists in eastern Ukraine in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions are blocking columns of heavy military equipment heading from Kiev to the border with Russia.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested in a phone conversation with President Putin to expand the role of the OSCE’s (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) mission in Ukraine, the official representative of the German embassy Steffen Zeibert said, as quoted by Itar-Tass.
“Despite the differences in opinions concerning the referendum in Crimea and the question of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, the Chancellor and President have discussed the tense situation as regards security in this country,” Zeibert stated.
According to Zeibert, Merkel “suggested expanding the OSCE’s mission as soon as possible and sending more observers to the epicenter of the crisis, especially to eastern regions.”
"President Putin reacted to this initiative positively," Zibert added.
The turnout for the referendum in Crimea at 1700 local time (1500 GMT) was 70 per cent, the referendum’s website says.
No corrections are being made to Russia's foreign policy because of the threats of sanctions, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Komsomolskaya Pravda daily. He added that no corrections have been made to President Putin’s schedule, and no foreign state visits have been canceled over the recent situation in Ukraine. It comes amid harsh rhetoric from US and EU politicians.
“The declarations are not the reason to make any corrections,” Peskov said, adding that Moscow “surely” carries on the relations with those countries.
“Let’s wait for concrete decisions because at the moment, it’s about the media reports, some general declarations. When we see concrete decisions, we’ll evaluate the risks and possible consequences for both us and our partners,” Peskov said.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has urged US Secretary of State John Kerry in a phone call to use US influence on Kiev to prevent unlawful acts towards the Russian population, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“The provocations by the ultranationalist and radical forces in the southeastern region have become more frequent, led to casualties among the civilian population, and are destabilizing the situation,” Lavrov said.
Kerry assured Lavrov that Washington is already carrying out the necessary steps and is counting on them to bring positive results soon.
About 64 % of voters in Crimea have already had their say at the referendum by 1500 local time (13 GMT), according to the head of the republic’s commission on the vote, Mikhail Malyshev. The highest voter turnout has so far been in the city of Kerch, eastern Crimea.
The official also denied speculation that some people were voting using their travel, rather than national passports.
The leader of ultranationalist group Right Sector, Dmitry Yarosh, has threatened to destroy Russian pipelines on Ukrainian territory if a diplomatic solution is not reached with Moscow.
“We cannot allow the enemy to carry out a blitzkrieg attack on Ukrainian territory. We mustn’t forget that Russia makes money sending its oil through our pipelines to the West. We will destroy these pipelines and deprive our enemy of its source of income,” Yarosh said.
There have been no excesses at the polling stations, said Mikhail Malyshev, head of the referendum committee.
“I have contacted the police headquarters,” he said, stressing that there have been “no complaints of any conflicts registered in the headquarters.”
Ukrainian military personnel stationed in Crimea are not being given an opportunity to vote in the referendum despite their great desire, said Mikhail Malyshev, head of the referendum committee, Itar-Tass reported.
"They have a great desire to come to vote, but the commanders of the military units do not permit them to leave the [bases’] territory," he said. According to Malyshev, the committee received 12 calls with such complaints.
A motor rally in support of the Crimean referendum and the people of Ukraine took place in the center of Russia’s northern capital, St. Petersburg, on Sunday. According to the Great Motherland Party organization, about 300 cars, mostly SUVs, participated in the rally. The main motto of the action was "Not leaving our people!", and the vehicles were decorated with Russian and Crimean flags.
A demonstration against the coup-imposed government in Kiev resumed in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk. Up to 1,000 protesters are rallying downtown, supported by protest convoys of cars with Russian flags driving through Donetsk. Protesters are holding banners demanding an allegiance referendum and release of “people’s governor” Pavel Gubarev, who was arrested by Kiev authorities on separatism charges. Yesterday, a 5,000-strong demonstration in Donetsk besieged security service and Ministry of Interior headquarters, demanding the release of the arrested activists, conducting a national referendum “on the issue of government of Ukraine and assigning the Russian language a status of the second state language.”
The Supreme Council of the Crimean Autonomous Republic is expected to declare the results of the referendum on Monday morning at a special session scheduled for 10 am (0800 GMT), which means that the final count of the ballots will be completed by that time. Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov has confirmed that a detailed plan for the republic’s development is already being worked out with the help of Russian experts. “I believe we will present the program in full within literally one or two days,” Aksyonov said. Crimea’s PM said that voter turnout had already exceeded the one witnessed during the 2012 parliamentary elections “by two or three times.”
The UN Security Council resolution on Crimea vetoed by Russia on Saturday could only further worsen the Ukrainian crisis, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
“This is neither in Ukraine’s interest, nor in the interest of the international community,” according to a statement issued Sunday by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang. He warned all sides against taking any steps that would make the Ukrainian crisis worse.
Up to 50 percent of the voters in Crimea’s largest city of Sevastopol turned up at polling stations by noon (10:00 GMT) to cast their votes in a referendum deciding the future state affiliation of the Crimea Autonomous Republic, interim mayor Dmitry Belik reported. Throughout the Crimean Autonomous Republic, the number of citizens who cast their votes by noon reached 44 percent or 670,600 people, RIA news agency reported.
The situation in Sevastopol remains relaxed and festive. The most visible manifestation of the tightened security in the city remains the prohibition for vehicles to enter the city’s downtown. Sevastopol is decorated with the Russian tricolor and St. Andrew's (Russian Navy) flags. A gala concert has been scheduled for Sunday evening where, as expected, preliminary results of the referendum are going to be announced.
The official website of the Crimean referendum is down due to a cyber-attack that originated from the United States, local minister of information and mass communications Dmitry Polonsky told the Itar-Tass news agency.
The exact location from which the website’s servers were scanned was Illinois University, Polonsky said.
People are actively casting their ballots in Sevastopol, where most of the residents will likely have voted by noon, the head of the city’s election committee, Valery Medvedev, told journalists, RIA Novosti reported.
A total of 192 polling stations are currently opened in Sevastopol, which is home to 306,000 eligible voters. Fifty foreign observers are monitoring the referendum there.
A poll conducted by GfK, an international research organisation, suggests that 70 percent of Crimeans will vote for the republic to become part of Russia, while 11 percent will say yes to Crimea’s status as part of Ukraine. GfK questioned 600 residents on Thursday and Friday. If Crimea’s independence from both Ukraine and Russia was on the ballot, 19 percent would vote for that option. But even in this situation, 54 percent of Crimeans would vote to join Russia, the poll found.
All of Crimea’s 1,205 polling stations have opened, despite harsh weather conditions, the head of the Crimean parliament’s commission on the referendum, Mikhail Malyshev, said. Local emergency services issued a storm warning on the eve of the referendum.
“People are standing in lines at many polling stations, they want to cast their ballots,” RIA Novosti reported Malyshev as saying.
Crimea’s prime minister, Sergey Aksyonov, was among the first to cast his ballot in the referendum on the republic's status, Itar-Tass reports. After casting his ballot, Aksyonov described the referendum to journalists as a historic moment.
Polling stations have opened in Crimea as the referendum on the region’s status begins. The voting will go on for 12 hours, during which the Crimeans will decide whether the region reunifies with Russia or remains part of Ukraine.
International observers in Sevastopol are going to attend as many polling stations as possible on the day of the referendum, according to the chairman of the St. Petersburg election commission, Alexei Puchnin.
"Preparations [for the referendum] may be assessed as rather good,” he told Itar-Tass. "A total of 192 polling stations were set up in Sevastopol, and up to 3,000 people will vote there, which is fully in line with international and Russian standards."
Ahead of the plebiscite in Crimea, RT interviewed some of the European observers there. Tune in to what they had to say.
The hacktivist group calling itself CyberBerkut has claimed responsibility for taking down 3 NATO websites in a series of DDoS attacks. The group criticizes NATO for stirring up turmoil in Ukraine and helping the “Kiev junta” suppress freedom of speech.
Crimean military and self-defense forces have prevented an attempt to sabotage and cripple the gas distribution center that feeds a number of socially critical facilities in the peninsula, including schools and medical centers, Crimean authorities said.
15 March 2014
A rally condemning the actions of Western powers in Ukraine has been held in Stockholm, Sweden.
The activists urged the EU and US to stop provoking a war between Ukraine and Russia, as they stressed friendly relations between nations.
The referendum in Crimea is fully consistent with international law and the UN Charter, Russian Foreign Minister told US Secretary of State John Kerry.
“The upcoming Crimean referendum is fully consistent with international law and the UN Charter, and its results should be the starting point in determining the future of the peninsula,” Sergey Lavrov said during a telephone conversation with John Kerry. Lavrov also stressed that authorities in Kiev should curb the activities of ultra-radical groups terrorizing those rejecting the coup including the Russian speaking part of Ukraine’s population.
Discrepancies and inconsistencies have been surrounding reports on Ukraine in mass media. The acting Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk says that Russian speakers will not be discriminated against – but Russian TV news channels face censorship in Ukraine anyway. A report by CNN that identifies military vehicles of “Russian origin” along Ukraine’s eastern border – but in fact those filmed by the Black Sea in Kerch where they are officially stationed. Allegations surface that the Ukrainian opposition could have ordered snipers to open fire on demonstrators in Maidan – but Western media outlets drop those reports quickly, despite the Ukrainian intelligence service saying that they could identify some of those responsible.
For more, tune in for RT’s Propaganda Watch with Anastasia Churkina
The Crimean self-defense forces have prevented an attempt to damage a gas pipeline at the Arabat Spit, said the Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov as cited by Itar-tass.
"Those trying to damage the equipment - according to preliminary data, up to 40 people – introduced themselves as employees of the Border Service of Ukraine and quickly left the station," said Aksyonov.
In connection with the incident, Aksyonov has asked the Russian Black Sea fleet to keep watch over the gas distribution station in the area.
The USS Truxtun, a US guided-missile destroyer, will carry out more exercises with allied ships in the Black Sea, its commander said on Saturday. Commander Andrew Biehn was briefing reporters aboard the 300-crew destroyer as it lay docked in a Bulgarian port.
The USS Truxtun last week took part in drills with Romanian and Bulgarian ships a few hundred miles from Russian forces that entered Ukraine's Russian-majority of Crimea after mass protests toppled the country's president. (Reuters)
Gennady Basov, the leader of the Russian Bloc party and a deputy of Sevastopol City Council, was kidnapped Saturday by unknown people, the party’s press center said to the media. According to the police department of Sevastopol, they already received an official report about his disappearance and are taking measures to find Basov. The Russian Bloc party, which stands for the rights of ethnic Russians in the region, was formed in 2002. In the Ukrainian parliamentary elections in 2012 it failed to win any seats.
Ukrainian customs officials have blocked the ways in and out of Transnistria, a Ukrainian-Moldovian border at the river Dniestr, for male citizens of Russia. According to an officer of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, “All the men with Russian passports aren’t allowed to pass the border.” Freight trains with cargo for Russian peacekeepers also can’t get to Transnistria. Two trains with food, goods and fuel for Russian troops have been at a checkpoint Kuchurgany for five days.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has warned of possible provocations in Ukraine. A column of trucks with armed mercenaries belonging to the Right sector has reportedly left from Kharkov heading for Donetsk and Lugansk, the ministry said in a statement. The leaders of the movement have announced the opening of the “eastern front” while one of the garment factories reportedly began to urgently sew Russian uniforms, it added.
Crimea has launched a criminal case against the leader of the ultra-nationalist group Right Sector, Dmitry Yarosh and the head of Brotherhood party Dmitry Korchinsky, the republic’s prosecutor’s office said. The men are accused of calling “for military aggression and terrorist attacks on the territory of the peninsula,” the body’s press-service said. Yarosh and Korchinsky were allegedly using social networking services to distribute materials that “propagate war” and violence against people in Crimea.
Crimean referendum on the republic’s status will be invalid, French President Francois Hollande has told a media conference in Paris after his meeting with the new Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
“We believe that the referendum in Crimea will not have any legal force,” he said, adding that France believes that everything possible should be made in order to go back to negotiations to settle the Ukrainian conflict, Itar-Tass reported.
Ukrainian acting Defense Minister, Igor Tenyukh has said that the country’s Armed Forces have significantly increased their combat readiness within past two weeks.
“Because of the events in Crimea and on the eastern borders, the government has made a number of decisions aimed at bringing the Armed Forces to the capacity necessary for them to fulfill their duties,” he said, as cited by Interfax.
Thousands of people have rallied in Moscow at two separate rallies to oppose and support Russian intervention in Ukraine.
At the opposition rally there were reports of as many as 50,000 people. Protesters shouted “hands off Ukraine” and “the occupation of Crimea is Russia's disgrace" and said they wanted peace between the two neighboring countries.
Two people were seriously injured in a shooting in the Darnitskay regional council building in Kiev, local media reported Friday. The shooting occurred late in the evening Thursday. Police have detained the man that started the shooting, which started during scuffles between locals.
Dozens of anti-war activists staged a rally in New York City on Friday under the slogan "No new US war! Stop media lies about Ukraine and Venezuela". Protesters of the rally organized by the International Action Center marched from the Warner Center down Broadway where they ended their demonstration in front of the Fox News Headquarters.
The Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada (parliament) has voted for early dissolution of Crimean parliament, Itar-Tass reports. 278 MPs voted in favor for the decision.
The Rada's ruling comes into effect immediately. The MPs simultaneously supported preparations for early elections in Crimea.
People have gathered in Mariupol, Donetsk region, for a rally in support of Russia and Crimean referendum.
@RT_russian митинг у нас в Мариуполе в поддержку Крыма России и референдума о федерализации pic.twitter.com/ukQ1bxpc9E
— snem (@mrsnem) March 15, 2014
A pro-Russian demonstration is taking place in the center of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine.
A total of 135 observers from 23 countries have been registered in Crimea, and 623 journalists from 169 media outlets are working in the region, said head of the Crimean parliament’s commission on preparation for the referendum, Mikhail Malyshev.
"1240 more observers from Crimean organizations have been registered as well,” Malyshev told Itar-Tass.
A day before referendum is due to start in Crimea, #Ukraine parliament in Kiev gathers with a mission..to dissolve Crimea'a parliament
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) March 15, 2014
Russia’s IT and Communications Ministry says it has pinpointed the exact location in western Ukraine where a jamming attack was launched from on Russian television satellites. On Friday the Ministry registered an attack on communication satellites staged from the territory of western Ukraine.
A court in Donetsk has refused to ban mass demonstrations in the city, scheduled for March 15 and 16, Itar-Tass reports. It thus disallowed a request by Donetsk City Council for the rallies to be banned as a danger to the public.
The court said in its decision that the plaintiff did not provide sufficient proof to support a ban.
Crimean authorities said they believe observers from the OSCE will take part in monitoring Sunday's referendum.
“OSCE observers were to arrive yesterday late at night by a plane from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo [Airport]. They bought the tickets and registered for the flight. So they must be here by now,” Crimea’s first vice-premier Rustam Temirgaliev told Interfax. He added that in total observers from 23 countries would take part in monitoring the referendum.
Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s commissioner for human rights, has in his Twitter reacted to events in Kharkov, where around 30 gunmen belonging to the nationalist Right Sector movement were detained Saturday, after they attacked anti-Maidan activists and took three people hostage.
“The arrest of neo-Nazi militants in Kharkov must lead to the launch of full-scale action to neutralize and punish rowdy extremists,” Dolgov said. “No one revoked Ukraine’s international obligations to resist racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia,” he added.
A group of 30 international observers have arrived in Crimea ahead of Sunday’s referendum. They were invited by the Crimean authorities.
"Observers are going to visit all of the Crimean regions and check if the preparations for the referendum and the referendum itself are in compliance with the local legislation and also with the intertnational standards of organizing plebiscites,” Mateus Psikorski, a member of the mission and director of the European Center for Geopolitical Analysis, told Itar-Tass.
The observers’ mission includes representatives from Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, France and Poland.
Two people were killed overnight in Ukraine's Kharkov, where gunmen from the radical Right Sector movement attacked self-defense activists, barricaded themselves inside their headquarters and took three hostages. Police eventually detained around 30 armed people and the hostages were released.
“We have started to identify these people, as they don’t have passports with them,” Anatoly Dmitriev, the head of the Kharkov region police told Itar-Tass. “We’ll lift fingerprints from weapons, which are left inside the building.”
14 March 2014
A bill has been introduced in the Ukrainian Parliament that aims to denounce the agreement establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIA).
"The instrument of denunciation of the Agreement on the Establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States was introduced by an MP from the Fatherland Party,” Parliament’s press-service announced.
Previously the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrey Deshchitsa stated that Ukraine intends to withdraw from the CIS due to the “inability of the organization to serve as a tool to resolve conflicts among its members."
Pyongyang believes that the ongoing events in Ukraine demonstrate the West’s disregard for the principles of international law.
"Recent events in Ukraine were provoked by an already developed US and Western countries’ coup scenarios,” Kim Yong Jae, N. Korean ambassador to Moscow said Friday, Interfax reports.
The ambassador also said the US is trying to overthrow a “sovereign state in broad daylight” calling it a “brutal violation of the rights of peoples to self-determination."
The redeployment of Russian jets and military transport aircraft to Bobruisk airfield in Belarus has been completed, reported the Belarusian Defense Ministry.According to the ministry’s representative, parts of the Belarusian Air Force and missile defense forces have also been moved to airfields prepared for the exercises. Earlier in the week, the republic’s President Aleksandr Lukashenko invited Russian forces to fend off the potential NATO threat.
Just over 2,000 people gathered in central Sevastopol on Friday to receive a Russian flag, as part of the 'Flag in every home' action being held in support of the upcoming Crimean referendum. Russian flags have been put up across the Autonomous Republic of Crimea to encourage people to vote to join Russia on March 16.
Ukrainian police are investigating an attack on a rabbi in a Kiev street that the man's wife said on Friday was clearly an anti-Semitic act.
Racheli Cohen, wife of rabbi Hillel Cohen, said Thursday's attack by two men on her husband was clearly an anti-Semitic act. "They struck him in the leg, shouting anti-Semitic slurs," she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Kiev police, quoted by Interfax-Ukraine news agency, said they were looking for two men who shouted anti-Jewish insults at the rabbi and struck him with sticks before making off in a car.
Cohen runs the Ukrainian branch of Hatzalah, a worldwide volunteer emergency services group for Jewish communities.
Jewish leaders have warned of a risk of anti-Semitic violence due to general instability in the country. Last month, a provincial synagogue was firebombed and there were some assaults on Jews in the streets in previous months. (Reuters)
Russia is ready to allow Ukrainian military planes to fly over its territory if the latter fulfills its payment obligations, said the head of the Directorate for International Military Cooperation of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Sergey Koshelev. He added that no politics should be involved.
“I would like to confirm that we are ready to fulfill our obligations under the Open Skies Treaty and are looking forward to a similar approach from those requesting to fly over our territory,” Koshelev said.
On Tuesday, Ukraine directed a request through the OSCE for an "emergency observation flight" from 17 to 21 March over Russian territory within the framework of the Open Skies Treaty. On Thursday, Ukrainian authorities have said the country is not ready to fulfill its payment obligations.
Ukrainian police has detained four people and identified more than 400 participants of the bloody clashes that took place on Thursday in the eastern city of Donetsk, the head of the regional police department Konstantin Pozhidaev told journalists at a press briefing. He also urged journalists to provide any photo or video materials of the incidents in Donetsk, while calling for the citizens to maintain order and refrain from provoking conflicts during peaceful demonstrations.
Schools and other institutions were transformed into polling stations in Sevastopol on Friday, ahead of the referendum on Sunday. Over 192 polling stations have already been formed for the March 16 vote. The stations will operate from 08.00 to 20.00 local time (06.00 to 18.00 GMT). Those away from their registered city will be unable to take part in the vote as absentee ballots have been banned.
Crimea could be recognized as a part of the Russian Federation as soon as next week, Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov told a news conference in Simferopol on Friday.
The process of accession to Russia after the referendum will take up to a year’s time, he said, adding that “there were neither requests, nor suggestions from any side. Nobody in Moscow is especially preoccupied with Crimea’s accession.”
The Crimean government isn’t going to discuss the question of its separation with Kiev, the dialogue will be possible only after the elections in Ukraine, he said.
Aksyonov also said that Russian troops were not taking any action on Crimean territory.
“Russian troops have always been based here, since the times of Suvorov and Kutuzov. The Black Sea fleet has never left the place, all through Ukrainian independence,” Aksyonov said.
Should the March 16 referendum result in a vote to join Russia, not a single Ukrainian bank in the autonomy will be nationalized, Aksyonov promised at the news conference.
US President Barack Obama said on Friday he still hopes for a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis heading into a pivotal weekend.
Obama, meeting Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny in the Oval Office, reiterated to reporters that there would be consequences should Russia refuse to “loosen its grip” on the Crimea region of southern Ukraine.
Crimea's parliament has scheduled a referendum on Sunday to decide whether the region would join Russia.
"We continue to hope that a diplomatic solution can be found," Obama said.
Around 4,500 people participated in a meeting in support of the popular vote in Crimea that took place in the city of Ivanovo, situated in central Russia. According to the police, the rally, which started at 17:00 local time (13:00 GMT) was peaceful.
Митинг в поддержку Крыма. #СоюзДобро#Иваново#МыСВами#своихнебросаемpic.twitter.com/QjNgDa3NXP
— Ivdobro (@Ivdobro) March 14, 2014
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has said that it will be "formidably difficult" for US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to make progress on the crisis in Ukraine.
After more than three hours, @JohnKerry and #Russia's FM Lavrov continue talks on de-escalating tensions in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/ru9QC5DhPe
— Department of State (@StateDept) March 14, 2014
Lavrov and Kerry. Hope they will be back pic.twitter.com/ZXDFNSCzhE
— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) March 14, 2014
A criminal case has been opened against Ukrainian citizens Oleg Tyagnibok, Dmitry Yarosh and other leaders of UNA-UNSO ultranationalist party, Vladimir Markin, the spokesman for Russia’s Investigative Committee, told reporters. Ukrainian nationalists are charged with fighting Russian troops in Chechnya in 1994-95 alongside the notorious terrorist warlords Shamil Basaev and Arab mercenary Khattab, later eliminated by Russian special services.
“There has been enough evidence collected to take the decision and bring them in as defendants in absentia within the nearest time for preventive detention and put them on the wanted list,” Markin said.
He also mentioned the names of other UNA-UNSO leaders, such as Mamalyga, Mazur, Bobrovich, Korchinsky and others, who are accused of forming a gang to fight Russian troops in Chechnya.
Crimea police say they are ready to secure law and order during Sunday’s referendum on the republic’s status, Interfax-Ukraine reports, citing the police’s press service. A total of 2,400 law enforcement officers are going to be deployed at 1,203 polling stations, while 100 police personnel will ensure security at 27 electoral committees.
“Before and during the election, Crimean police officers are going to have security tightened to guarantee public order across Crimea,” the police’s statement reads.
Talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry have started in London, Itar-Tass reports. The negotiations on Ukraine are being held in the residence of the US Ambassador to UK. Earlier, Lavrov discussed the Ukrainian crisis at a one-on-one meeting with British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
Situation not simple, lot of time has been wasted, but we'll see what we can do - Lavrov ahead of meeting with Kerry pic.twitter.com/8uV11gIHpb
— RT (@RT_com) March 14, 2014
Logistics of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) observer mission in Ukraine should be in accord with the regional administration, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said, as quoted by ITAR-TASS.
It comes after a round of talks in Vienna, on the development of the OSCE mission mandate.
“A few states have taken a break to establish their position,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry stated. “Our side was already prepared to vote for the mandate on the start of the mission.”
The US Senate is postponing the vote on a bill aimed to provide financial aid to Ukraine and impose sanctions against Russia, until the end of March at the earliest.
The legislature, drafted and approved by the Foreign Relations Committee, failed to advance in the Senate on Thursday, after Republicans objected to the inclusion of the IMF measure.
The next time, US legislature can take up the vote is after Congress returns from a break on March 24.
Canada has promised to provide Ukraine with $220 million aid in an international effort to restore the economic situation in the country.
"Prime Minister Stephen Harper is announcing $220 million in additional measures to promote sustainable economic growth, democratic development, and good governance," Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird told a news conference in Ottawa.
Some $200 million are conditional on the creation of a wider financial aid package by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The other $20 million will be transferred to pay for expert guidance under the IMF supervision.
13 March 2014
The Crimean authorities promise to protect the integrity of private property and business, but announced plans to nationalize state property on the peninsula of Ukraine.
"I just want to reassure business – we will not carry out re-privatization. This we can guarantee. Private business will continue to operate normally,” Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksenov told, "Komsomolskaya Pravda."
Aksenov said that energy sector enterprises and companies related to mining activities will be privatized by the state. Vessels of the Ukrainian fleet will also be appropriated.
Over 100 Greek expats from the former USSR held a rally in front of the Ukrainian Embassy in Athens, condemning the actions of the "self-appointed government” in Kiev that sows discord between nations.
The activists marched towards the Ukrainian embassy to submit a petition calling for national unity in Ukraine. In it they condemned the authorities who “came to power through bloodshed”, for “abolishing our [Greek] schools, abolishing Russian language” which is spoken by some “90 percent of Ukrainians”.
Ukraine’s coup-imposed Prime Minister told the UN Security Council that authorities in Ukraine are ready to defend ”every minority in our country” and offer more autonomy to Crimea.
"We are ready to engage in a national dialogue to strengthen the powers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in the Ukrainian parliament with constitutional means and tools," Arseny Yatsenyuk said.
Sunday's vote in Crimea is seen as a chance for the peninsula's people to fairly decide and choose their course of action.
The ballot only has two options: "Are you in favour of the reunification of Crimea with Russia as a part of the Russian Federation?" or "Are you in favour of restoring the 1992 Constitution and the status of Crimea as a part of Ukraine?"
In a conversation with the president of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, Russian president Vladimir Putin has assessed the acute situation in Ukraine, and stressed in particular that the "solution to the crisis is possible only on the basis of unconditional consideration of the interests and the will of the multinational population of all regions of this country [Ukraine]," said the press service of the Kremlin.
Clashes erupted in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk after participants of a pro-Russian rally broke through a police cordon surrounding the rally of Ukraine’s integrity supporters. According to Interfax-Ukraine, law enforcers attempted to take those rallying for Ukrainian unity in police buses but some of the buses were blocked and had their windows broken. Fireworks and smoke grenades were also reportedly used in the clashes.
Russia has voiced support for the deployment of an OSCE monitoring mission in Ukraine, including Crimea, the chairman of the European security group said on Thursday, calling this a possible "big step forward."
"The Russian Federation supported the idea of a rapid approval and rapid deployment of a special monitoring mission for Ukraine," Thomas Greminger, Switzerland's ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, told reporters after a meeting of OSCE envoys in Vienna. (Reuters)
Nearly 10,000 people in the city of Ulyanovsk have attended a rally in support of Ukraine’s Russian-speaking population.
Митинг в поддержку #Крым в #Ульяновскpic.twitter.com/TLec6UovPy
— ОЕ (@OEGusarov) March 13, 2014
Activists were holding banners reading pro-Russian slogans. The two below read, “We don’t give up on our people” and “No to fascism.”
#Крым#Ульяновскpic.twitter.com/RyRV6TH7UY
— Сергей Гулькин (@s_gulkin) March 13, 2014
A group of UN Security Council member countries have prepared a draft resolution on the situation in Ukraine supporting the territorial integrity of the country, Itar-Tass reports. Allies of the coup-imposed Ukrainian government, including the US, UK, France and Lithuania, have been named as the authors of the draft. French UN envoy Gerard Araud has confirmed the completion of the draft but did not specify when the document will be voted on in the Security Council.
The United States and the European Union will respond on Monday with a "serious series of steps" against Russia if a referendum in Ukraine's Crimea region goes ahead on Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday.
Kerry told a congressional hearing he hoped to avoid such steps, which include sanctions, through discussions with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in London on Friday.
"If there is no sign of any capacity to be able to move forward and resolve this issue there will be a very serious series of steps in Europe and here with respect to the options that are available to us," Kerry said in testimony on the State Department's 2015 budget request. (Reuters)
'One gang replaced another': Maidan losing faith in Kiev coup leaders http://t.co/Au3V4E6RGU#Ukraine@Yaro_RT
— RT (@RT_com) March 13, 2014
Ukraine’s 450-member parliament has voted in support of revising the electoral law ahead of presidential elections. A simple majority of 226 MPs out of 309 present for the vote supported the changes, which included a ban on taking pictures or video of voters, as well as a ban on taking “selfies” while casting ballots. Other changes apply to presidential campaigns’ start and finish dates. No other major changes have been made. Following the Ukrainian coup-appointed PM’s visit to Washington DC, the US said it is planning to double its assistance to Ukraine to support electoral law reform, the State Department has said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his counterpart US Secretary of State John Kerry have agreed to continue dialogue on Ukraine as the two are meeting in London on March 14, Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement following their phone call.
Vladimir Putin has said Russia has now to focus on how to build relations with its partners in the EU, the US as well as in Ukraine, given the situation there. Speaking to the Russian Security Council, he said that despite the fact that Moscow is not the one to blame the conflict on, it still got involved.
“We can’t ignore all the events across Ukraine, and Crimea – and all that has to do with this difficult problem, which occurred, and I want to stress that, not because of Russia, but it got involved in it anyway,” Putin said. "Let's think together about how to conduct relations with our partners and friends in Ukraine and with our other partners in Europe and the United States."
Ukraine's parliament has voted to create a 60,000-strong National Guard as a step to strengthen defense. The move, supported by 262 parliamentarians, basically recreates the Guard Ukraine used to have back from 1991 to 2000. The new National Guard will be created on the basis of internal troops.
Of all the EU states, Latvia will suffer most if the EU imposes sanctions against Russia, Latvian Finance Minister Vyacheslav Dombrovsky told journalists on Thursday.
“I do not think it would be an exaggeration to say that of all the EU states, it is Latvia that has the biggest share in economic relations with Russia. Should the sanctions [against Russian in connection with the Ukrainian crisis] be imposed… we will feel their consequences the most,” Dombrovsky said, as quoted by Delfi.
According to the minister, 43 percent of Latvian agricultural/food exports go to Russia, and 70 percent of all the transit traffic is connected to Russia. Moreover, Latvia is “fully dependent” on Russian natural gas imports.
Around 10,000 people have gathered in the eastern city of Kharkov for the rally in support of the detained mayor Gennady Kernes, ITAR-TASS reported.
The crowds are shouting slogans like “Hands off Gennady Kernes!” and “Give us back our mayor!”
“We’re seeing a complete breakdown of law and order in Ukraine. Freedom to Gennady Kernes! His detention mustn’t be allowed,” the head of the Afghan Veterans Union Sergey Lagutin said at the rally.
Notorious Ukrainian nationalist, member of Right Sector group Aleksandr Muzychko was arrested in absentia by a Stavropol Region court in Russia, Interfax reports.
A criminal case against Muzychko has earlier been opened in North Caucasian Federal District by Russia’s Investigative Committee on the charges of “forming and supervising an armed gang organized for the purpose of attacking Russian citizens.”
According to the Committee’s spokesman, Vladimir Markin, Muzychko is suspected of personally torturing and killing at least 20 captive Russian soldiers during the First Chechen War in 1994-1995. Muzychko was one of the leaders of Ukrainian ultra-nationalist UNA-UNSO group fighting alongside insurgents against the Russian troops in Chechnya.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a security organization including Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, have noticed increased NATO activity near Belarus’ borders, Secretary General Nikolay Bordyuzha said.
“We are concerned with the deployment of a NATO aviation group near Belarusian borders. We notice the increased surveillance activity near that region. But at the moment we believe that taking countermeasures would be premature,” he said.
It comes after NATO deployed US fighter jets to Poland and Baltic states and started patrols of Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft over Poland and Romania.
The CSTO official added that organization is not preparing its joint military force over the crisis in Ukraine and does not consider Russia part of that conflict.
The website of the All-Russia State TV and Radio Broadcasting company resumed functioning at 2:30 Moscow time (10.30 GMT) after a hacker attack.
The website of Russia’s Channel One, which was taken down earlier in a hacker DDoS attack, allegedly from Kiev, is functioning at the moment, ITAR-TASS reported.
“The channel’s website wasn’t working from 12:15pm Moscow time (08:15 GMT) until 1.53pm due to a DDoS attack from Kiev,” a Channel One representative said.
Over the last few days, the websites of Lifenews media outlet and Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper have also been attacked by hackers.
All the representatives of these media outlets link this with their coverage of the events in Ukraine.
The OECD said on Thursday it had postponed all activities related to Russia's accession to the organisation following a request from its members.
The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development also said its members had agreed to strengthen cooperation with Ukraine to help it address the "public policy challenges it faces". (Reuters)
President Vladimir Putin said Russia did not instigate the current crisis currently embroiling Ukraine, adding that the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games had gone off without a hitch.
Meeting with the head of the Russian Paralympic Committee in Sochi, Putin said that “the Paralympics was "outside of politics” and had not been effected by the “difficult circumstances” in the region. Putin added that Russia has not been behind these “complex conditions” which served as the backdrop to the major international sporting event, which is slated to conclude on the same day Crimea holds a referendum on its status.
The Crimean authorities have taken under protection the oil and gas deposits in the Black and Azov seas.
“Those deposits and platforms will pass into complete ownership of the Crimean Republic. We’re already guarding them. Those are our deposits, and we’ll fight for them,” Crimea’s parliamentary speaker Vladimir Konstantinov told RIA-Novosti.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a speech in parliament on Thursday that instead of acting as a partner for stability in the Ukraine crisis, Russia had sought to exploit the weakness of its neighbour.
"The territorial integrity of Ukraine cannot be called into question," she said, making clear that the situation in Ukraine's southern region of Crimea was not comparable to the case of Kosovo in the Balkans.
"Ladies and gentlemen, if Russia continues on its course of the past weeks, it will not only be a catastrophe for Ukraine," she said, using her strongest rhetoric since the start of the crisis.
"We would not only see it, also as neighbours of Russia, as a threat. And it would not only change the European Union's relationship with Russia. No, this would also cause massive damage to Russia, economically and politically." (Reuters)
The Ukrainian Kommersant-Ukraina newspaper will be closed and severance packages shall be paid to its employees, the Kommersant publishing house director told RIA Novosti.
It was previously suggested that the closing of the Kiev bureau was for solely for economic reasons, but as director Pavel Filenkov put it, the Kiev office “was simply no longer needed”.
Part of the staff may be offered positions in the Kiev bureau of the main, Russian, edition of the newspaper.
The self-proclaimed President of Ukraine Aleksandr Turchinov has suggested that the country's parliament addresses the UN in concern with the situation in Crimea.
"Ukraine reserves the right to address any state or regional system of collective security for help to restore its sovereign status and territorial integrity," according to the address, published on the Ukrainian Parliament's website.
12 March 2014
New York based Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the move by Ukraine's National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting to halt the transmission of Russian TV stations in the country.
"We call on Ukrainian authorities to allow Russian television channels to broadcast in the country and to ensure that the citizens of Ukraine have a plurality of information sources available," CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said. "Ukrainian people should be able to choose for themselves what information and opinion to access. Restricting access would escalate, not alleviate, the current tensions."
US President Barack Obama has promised to “completely reject” the outcome of the Crimean referendum as he showed little hope that Sunday’s vote on the peninsula’s status can be halted.
Meeting in the Oval Office with Ukraine’s coup-installed Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Obama warned that the international community would be "forced to apply a cost to Russia's violation of international law."
"There's another path available and we hope President Putin is willing to seize that path," Obama said. "But if he does not, I'm very confident that the international community will stand firmly behind the Ukrainian government."
The US leader stated that current authorities in Kiev are still open to negotiations with the Kremlin “that could lead to a different arrangement for the Crimean region, but that is not something that could be done with a gun pointed at you.”
For his part Yatsenyuk told Obama that his people will "never surrender" and will keep fighting for the "freedom, independence and sovereignty" of Ukraine.
The US Senate committee has drafted a financial aid measure for Kiev that would provide $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine’s self-imposed government. It will also enable Obama to impose economic sanctions on Russian officials if indeed Moscow does choose to act in the Crimea.
The sanctions to target individuals involved in suppressing Ukrainian protests, Russians engaged in "significant" corruption and those involved in violating the "territorial integrity" of Ukraine.
In the 14-3 vote, all Foreign Relations Committee Democrats supported the measure. The bill still needs to go before the full body for a vote. "We need to stand with the Ukrainian people to choose their own destiny without Russian interference," Democratic Chairman Robert Menendez, told the committee members.
Precinct election commissions for the upcoming referendum on the status of Crimea opened on Thursday. Residents of the autonomous republic will be able to vote in 1204 poll sites throughout the peninsula
More than 1.55 million ballots have been printed especially designed to protect against forgery. According to the chairman of the Supreme Council of Crimea Vladimir Konstantinov, police and defense forces have secured all the ballot sites for all of the referendum against possible provocations and violations.
At the same time the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine has blocked the database with the registry of voters in Crimea.
Sunday’s referendum in the Crimea will be monitored by the representatives of Russia and CIS countries. The final list of observers has not yet been compiled but the Crimean authorities invited representatives of all international organizations.
The referendum will be considered valid if more than half of the region's residents vote. Authorities expect a turnout of around 80 percent.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk agreed to send a joint mission of organized assistance to Ukraine.
“Poland and Germany have agreed to create a joint mission, which would also include French representatives. We are talking about organizing support,” Tusk said, adding that the mission will provide assistance in the financial and banking fields.
President Putin and the former head of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis (parliament) Mustafa Jemilev have discussed situation in Crimea. Jemilev who is also Ukrainian parliament MP has come to Moscow at the invitation of the Russian authorities for talks about the crisis in Ukraine.
Happening now → @JohnKerry is meeting with #Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. pic.twitter.com/zUQoTutPGi
— Department of State (@StateDept) March 12, 2014
Crimean authorities have denied that they have detained any journalists as they tried to enter the region.
“Those we stopped were agents provocateurs, who tried to pass themselves off as journalists while smuggling anti-Crimean propaganda, materials and weapons,” Crimean vice-premier Ruslan Temirgaliev said in a statement.
The official said that all had been released and sent back across the border.
“We are constantly seeing reports of journalist detentions in pro-Ukrainian media and social networks, which feature alleged physical violence and confiscation of equipment from reporters. So far, all of these stories have been propaganda fakes,” Temirgaliev said.
Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened legal proceedings against Ukrainian businessman and politician Gennady Balashov for “inciting extremism, and calling for multiple murders on the basis of political or ethnic hatred” against Russian citizens.
The investigators’ move comes in response to a Russian-language speech by Balashov on Kiev’s Independence Square on Monday, in which he said: “Anywhere in Crimea or elsewhere in Ukraine, if a Russian citizen wearing a St. George’s ribbon [a traditional Russian commemoration of World War II] tears down a Ukrainian flag, he should be shot in the head, because he is the enemy, and there is no point talking to him.”
Balashov, whose party advocates zero taxes, received moderate applause from the audience to his speech.
The Investigative Committee has said it will issue a search warrant, and the police will ask for the millionaire to be placed under arrest. By law, Russia claims the right to prosecute anyone who threatens the lives of Russian citizens, but Russia and Ukraine do not currently have an agreement on extradition, so the order could be difficult to carry out unless he travels to a third country with which Russia does have an extradition agreement.
Schools in Sevastopol that already teach in Ukrainian will be allowed to keep the language in classes if Crimea votes to join Russia on March 16.
“It would be right and wise to leave Ukrainian schools and give them the right to teach children in the Ukrainian language, and to give students the opportunity to go to Russian and Ukrainian universities,” Sevastopol’s acting mayor, Dmitry Belik, was reported as saying by Itar-Tass.
Crimea’s regional Council of Ministers has received information about possible provocations by the Right Sector ultranationalist group to undermine the upcoming referendum on the region’s future, Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov said.
“The Council of Ministers of Crimea received information indicating that self-proclaimed leaders of the Ukraine today held a closed meeting with the Council of National Security and Defense of Ukraine,” where they discussed organizing provocations in Crimea, he said.
“We have information that at the meeting the Right Sector was ordered to prepare groups of paramilitaries dressed in the uniform of servicemen of the Russian Federation, to organize armed attacks on military units of the Ukrainian army, located on the territory of Crimea,” Aksyonov said.
Crimean Information Minister Dmitry Polonsky has called on local people and self-defense units to respect journalistic integrity and not to think about reporters as “our enemies, but rather as our friends.”
“I would like to appeal to all Crimeans and all of those involved in self-defense [units] or serve in law enforcement: journalists should be inviolable, they perform their duties and do everything possible to bring information to the whole world community,” he said at a press conference.
Belarus will allow Russia to deploy up to 15 additional jets on its territory, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said during a Security Council meeting.
The move is connected with the activity of NATO not far from the Russian borders. The bloc started air drills in Poland on Tuesday and recently dispatched additional fighter jets to Poland and Lithuania.
Ukraine’s Supreme Administrative Court has launched legal action over the Ukrainian Parliament's decision to make Aleksandr Turchinov an acting president of Ukraine, court officials told Itar-Tass.
Earlier in March a lawyer from the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, Vladimir Olentsevich, has filed a lawsuit, asking “to recognize the parliament's actions as illegitimate as at that moment Viktor Yanukovich was the head of the state.”
The court will start to consider the lawsuit March 19.
Crimean authorities have accused the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) of using double standards in assessing the upcoming referendum scheduled March 16, Crimean Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliyev said.
Earlier, the OSCE said it would not send its observers to Crimea.
Temirgaliyev drew a comparison between Crimea’s referendum and that of Kosovo, which was recognized by OSCE observers.
The Kiev coup-appointed government has unlocked the accounts of Crimea, according to Crimean Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliyev.
He said the Kiev authorities had to use this measure as they had to pay the Ukrainian soldiers who serve on the territory of Crimea.
Thus, the referendum, scheduled March,16, will be financed from the Crimean budget, Temirgaliyev added.
All the ballots for the March 16 referendum in Crimea have been printed, said the autonomous republic's parliamentary speaker, Vladimir Konstantinov.
All the polling stations are being guarded by self-defense forces and Berkut riot police, he added.
A forum of interethnic accord in Crimea, uniting dozens of ethnic communities on the peninsula, has approved a resolution supporting the upcoming March16 referendum and joining Russia.
The Crimean authorities have partially limited access to the peninsula, fearing that extremists may attempt to enter the republic, said the speaker of the Crimean parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov.
The limitations are temporary, Konstantinov said, adding that after the March 16 referendum the situation will change as passport control and border posts would be set up in the republic, he said.
The Crimean authorities have partially limited the number of arriving planes in the airport of Simferopol, the Crimean capital, as the peninsula authorities fear possible provocations from the coup-imposed Kiev government, according to Crimean Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliyev.
“These measures are temporary and will be removed on March 17,” adds Temirgaliyev.
Ukrainian International Airlines confirmed that its planes cannot land at Simferopol Airport due to flight restrictions. The company has had to delay its flights up to March 12.
G7 members will demand that Russia stop efforts “to annex” Crimea in a statement to be issued later on Wednesday, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said. The statement is meant to show Moscow the G7’s determination on the issue.
"We call on the Russian Federation to cease all efforts to annex Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea," Barroso told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
The Group of Seven includes leading developed economies and is currently known as Group of Eight, due to Russia’s membership. Amid the turmoil in Ukraine, some Western officials called for the expulsion of Russia from the G8 and reversion to the original G7 composition.
The influence of G8 had been dwindling over the past years, as it was being pushed aside by the more representative G20 collective, of which Russia is a member as well.
Kiev will not launch a military attack on Crimea, the coup-imposed acting President of Ukraine Aleksandr Turchinov told AFP. He said such an attack would leave Ukraine’s border with Russia defenseless and claimed that this is what Moscow wants Kiev to do.
Kiev has concentrated its loyal troops on the border between mainland Ukraine and the defiant Crimean Peninsula, saying they were taking part in a military exercise. It’s not clear whether the Ukrainian army is actually prepared for combat, considering the sacking of several top military commanders after the coup and reports of Maidan activists being appointed to the service to monitor the morale of the troops.
The Russian delegation has suggested for Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to introduce a committee to investigate the crimes performed by the Maidan opposition in the late three months, said Igor Morozov from the Russian delegation to PACE.
The legitimacy of the Kiev coup-appointed authorities should be inspected as well, according to Morozov.
The committee should also investigate the situation with Kiev snipers who shot at protesters and police, added he. According to a leaked phone conversation between the EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton and Estonian foreign affairs minister, these snipers were allegedly hired by Maidan leaders.
An arrest warrant has been issued for the leader of the Ukrainian radical group Right Sector, Dmitry Yarosh, by a Moscow court on charges of inciting terrorism.
On March, 1, Yarosh called on Russia’s most wanted terrorist, Doku Umarov, to act against Russia in an address posted on Right Sector’s VKontakte (InContact) social network page. The statement said that “many Ukrainians with arms in their hands” supported Chechen militants in their fight against Russians and “it is time to support Ukraine now.”
After Yarosh’s public appeal to Umarov, Russia’s investigative committee on Monday launched a criminal case against him and called upon Interpol to add him to its international wanted list.
However, after the outrageous message caught the attention of world media, a Right Sector group said it had nothing to do with the post as one of their administrator's accounts had been "hacked."
Kiev’s criminal investigation against the commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet is a provocation which may further destabilize the situation in Crimea, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said.
“The attempt by the illegitimate authorities in Kiev to prosecute a Russian admiral is yet another provocation by those who broke Ukraine’s laws and usurped power,” he said.
The coup-imposed Ukrainian government launched last week prosecution of Vice-Admiral Aleksandr Vitko for “inciting treason and organizing sabotage against the Ukrainian military.”
The US House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning Russia’s actions in regards to Ukraine and urged the White House to boycott the G8 summit in Russia. The resolution also asks for NATO allies to suspend military cooperation with Moscow, as well as to impose visa and economic sanctions.
11 March 2014
If Crimea votes to become part of Russia, the Republic of Crimea, Moscow is willing to grant financial assistance from the Reserve Fund in the amount of more than 30 billion rubles, wrote "Izvestia", citing a source in the Ministry of Finance of Russia.
"If Crimea is a part of Russia, the money will be allocated to them as well as to the other regions, but for this budget code change is needed,” the source told the publication. “The amount has not yet confirmed, since a referendum is taking place on March 16."
The source also added that Russian state-run program budget will not suffer from Crimea’s decision and that the finances will come from Russia’s Reserve Fund. Crimea would be expected to adjust the average salary, pension’s payments and other social benefits to the average data of the Russian Federation.
Earlier it was reported that nearly 100 million rubles will be allocated to other cities in the region including Alushta, Yalta and Sudak to tackle social problems.
The presidents of Russia and Belarus, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko held a telephone conversation where they discussed Ukraine, press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov confirmed.
He did not comment on whether both leaders discussed possible joint efforts in terms of the Ukrainian crisis.
A draft resolution to postpone Ukrainian presidential elections scheduled for May 25 to December 7, has been introduced in Ukrainian parliament by an MP from the former ruling Party of Regions Evgeny Muraev, Ria reports.
Ukrainian Party of Regions decided to postpone its party congress by a week, MP Sergey Tihipko told local a local TV channel.
At the upcoming Party Congress deputies will seek to nominate a candidate to run in the Ukrainian presidential elections scheduled for May 25.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) voiced concern about Kiev’s push to ban some Russian television channels’ from being transmitted by cable operators in Ukraine
“I repeat my call to the authorities not to initiate these repressive measures,” OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović. “Banning programming without a legal basis is a form of censorship; national security concerns should not be used at the expense of media freedom.”
Tens of thousands of people have rallied on Tuesday all across Russia in support of the Crimean people and their right for self-determination. Peaceful rallies in over a dozen of cities went without any incidents, local authorities said.
More rallies with up to 5,000 people in attendance are scheduled across Russia in Veliky Novgorod, Ulan-Ude, Makhachkala, and Naryan-Mar.
Former head of Kharkov Regional State Administration Mikhail Dobkin has been placed under house arrest in Kiev on suspicion of inciting provocations against the territorial integrity of Ukraine, local media reports. Dobkin said that he intends to appeal the decision by a Kiev court as he still intends to run for president in May.
Asked about the impact of the Crimea crisis on co-operation between US and Russia on other international issues, White House Press Secretary told journalists that the countries are still continuing to work closely on Syria’s chemical weapons disarmament, and negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.
OSCE President Didier Burkhalter has declared the Crimea referendum “illegal”, and says that his organization will not be able to observe it. Burkhalter, who is also the President of Switzerland, told journalists in Bern that the constitutional framework for the vote had not been agreed, and said any OSCE presence would have to be agreed by Kiev, which has not endorsed the Sunday poll. Burkhalter said that Crimea’s “legitimate” secession could take “months or even years”, and suggested that a working group encompassing all interested parties should be formed.
Republican Senator John McCain will lead a delegation of five members of Congress on a visit of Kiev between March 14 and 16, according to Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Evgeny Perebyinis. The Arizona representative, who has voiced strong support for the new regime in Kiev, will meet with acting President Aleksandr Turchinov, and acting Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) says it will not observe the referendum in Crimea on March 16.
“ODIHR has not received an invitation to attend the referendum in Crimea, and therefore does not currently plan to send observers there,” ODIHR spokesman Thomas Rhymer told ITAR-TASS news agency.
Earlier Rhymer told Russia’s RIA news agency that his organization would consider an invitation, as it has a mandate to attend an election in any OSCE member state. Both Ukraine and Russia belong to the organization.
Prosecutors have opened a criminal case against Kharkov mayor Gennady Kernes on suspicion of torture, kidnapping and making death threats, Interfax-Ukraine reported. A criminal case has been launched, but Kernes says he does not know who initiated it. He said the case was fabricated and suggested it could be “political revenge by those who head law enforcement.”
“This case was fabricated by the police led by Arsen Avakov, the coup-appointed Interior Minister. He repeatedly stressed that having such a position he will be taking revenge with me and Mikhail Dobkin,” Kernes said.
Pro-Russian former Kharkov Governor Mikhail Dobkin was arrested in Kiev on charges of “inciting violations of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and anti-constitutional behavior," his lawyer Yulia Pletneva said.
Moscow is hoping that the OSCE will present a rapid and impartial assessment of the facts about violations of the rights of journalists in Ukraine, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said.
“The Russian foreign Ministry is concerned about the facts of limitation of the freedom of the media and violations of the rights of journalists covering the events in Ukraine. Media workers are subjected to psychological pressure and violence in Kiev and other Ukrainian cities,” the ministry said in a statement. It also recalled the case of a Russian correspondent who was reportedly threatened with physical violence by Ukrainian nationalists, who offered a cash reward for his capture.
Russia has said that the Crimean parliament’s decision to adopt an independence declaration from Ukraine is absolutely legitimate, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Russia also stressed that it would respect the results of the referendum.
A rally to support the people of Ukraine has gathered over 5,000 people in the Russian city of Orenburg not far from the Kazakhstan’s border, Itar-Tass news agency reports.
Members of various local groups took part in the demonstration, which went off without incident, police said.
Deeds to property and real estate ownership on the Crimean peninsula issued by the Ukrainian government will be reissued for free, Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov said after the local parliament declared the republic’s independence from Kiev on Tuesday.
“I can promise to all Crimean citizens that everyone who today has state shares in land or real estate property as well as any other Ukrainian state papers, will have them reissued for free using funds from the Crimean budget,” Kryminform news agency reported Aksyonov as saying.
He said there would be no seizure of private property by Crimean authorities.
The coup-appointed government in Kiev has demanded that the country’s cable and other TV providers stop broadcasting a range of Russian channels, including Vesti, Rossiya 24 and Channel One, by 7pm Tuesday, Ukraine’s National Council on Television and Radio said in a statement issued by its press service.
According to the press service, over 50 providers have already stopped broadcasting these Russian channels.
The meeting of foreign ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) which was scheduled to be held March 12 in Kiev will not now take place, Ukraine’s representative in the CIS, Ivan Bunechko, told the RIA Novosti news agency.
“The majorities of CIS member states have not confirmed their participation,” he said.
Ukraine is seeking to create a National Guard and mobilize military veterans who already have experience of service in the armed forces, coup-appointed President Aleksandr Turchynov said.
"It's necessary to create the National Guard on the basis of the Ukrainian Troops, whose purpose will be to protect the country and citizens against all criminals, external and internal aggression. It's necessary to announce partial mobilization into the National Guard and the Armed Forces of Ukraine," he said during a morning plenary meeting of parliament.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs said it will provide all urgent needs of the Ukrainian National Guard, which he National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine approved today.
“We have our armed forces fully operational; we carried out training and have a clear understanding of our armed forces’ condition. We are starting to restore the army,” Turchynov said.
Ukraine will also turn to security guarantors for technical and military aid.
“The parliament’s primary task is to ask countries that are guarantors of our security to fulfill their commitments,” he said.
No additional laws are needed to be passed in case Crimea votes to join Russia, a member of the ruling United Russia party, Sergey Zheleznyak, said.
"From the point of view of the current Constitution and the current legislation of the Russian Federation, there are no obstacles for joining territories of other countries as new subjects of the Russian Federation," he told journalists.
The website ‘Referendum 2014’, which is dedicated to the March 16 2014 referendum on the status of Crimea, has reportedly undergone Distributed Denial of Service Attacks (DDoS). Activists tasked with maintaining the site said the “massive” attacks were directed from both the United States and Ukraine, Interfax news agency reports.
The site founders had initially opened the site with the .ua Ukrainian domain before switching over to a Russian domain. They accused Kiev of attempting to “restrict freedom of speech.”
“On the night of March 11, 2014, our [site] was subject to DDoS attacks and was blocked twice over.”
They said the site has been moved to the page http://referendum2014.ru.
Kiev's appointment of several oligarchs to top public offices has not been welcomed by some members of the European Parliament.
“A government structure cannot be formed in this way,” said Austrian Social Democratic MEP Hannes Swoboda in Strasbourg, adding that Kiev must show Ukrainians that it is taking real steps to combat corruption.
Last week the coup-imposed government in Kiev appointed two of Ukraine's wealthiest men, Igor Kolomoysky and Sergey Taruta, as governors of Dniepropetrovsk and Donetsk regions, both located in largely pro-Russian eastern Ukraine.
One of the reasons of mass protests against President Viktor Yanukovich was the perceived corruption of his administration, in which rich businessmen close to the government allegedly obtained privileges from it.
The Crimean Parliament has passed a resolution regarding the restitution of rights of the Crimean Tatars and their integration into Crimean society, a spokesperson has told Itar-Tass.
The ethnic population has received assurance that the Crimean Tatar language shall receive official status alongside Russian and Ukrainian, as well as representation of the people at the city and area levels and the creation of organs for self-government.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Tuesday the European Union would rather avoid confrontation with Russia over its incursion into Ukrainian territory in Crimea but would have to prepare an EU response if Moscow doesn't back down.
"If the weekend passes without a visible change in Russia's conduct, then on Monday in the European Council we will have to discuss a next stage of measures," he said on a visit to the Baltic states, all EU members who are worried about Ukraine.
"We don't want confrontation but the action of the Russian side unfortunately makes it necessary for us to prepare, as I have just outlined to you," Steinmeier told reporters in the Estonian capital Tallinn. (Reuters)
The parliament of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea welcomes the mission of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to observe the referendum on the region’s future on March 16, but didn’t send an official invitation to the organization, said Crimea’s Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliev.
“We are ready to meet the members of OSCE but as advisers, not as military experts or provocateurs, especially if they are representatives from NATO member-states,” added Temirgaliev.
According to Crimean Deputy PM, the peninsula authorities also invited the representatives of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) for the referendum on March 16.
Crimea expects Russia to provide a $1 billion package of financial aid over several months, Deputy PM Rustam Temirgaliev told Interfax. The money would allow the Ukrainian region's authorities to pay salaries and pensions amid its stand-off with the coup-imposed government in Kiev.
Earlier Kiev blocked Crimea's access to financial electronic databases hosted in the capital, which prompted Crimea to start transition to the Russian financial system. The region will also not pay taxes to the central government starting with March, citing Kiev's failure to transfer due payments to the regional budget.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Tuesday that sanctions against Russia over Ukraine could be imposed as early as this week if Moscow fails to respond to a proposition designed to calm the crisis.
Fabius told the radio station France Inter that a referendum in the Crimea region on joining Russia set for March 16 was illegitimate and that the annexation of the region by Russia would be illegal.
"The only legitimate vote is that of May 25 for the president of the republic in Ukraine. The vote of March 16 has no legitimacy," Fabius said. (Reuters)
Russia’s State Duma will consider the question of the Autonomous republic of Crimea joining Russia on March 21.
The law which approves the transition of new territories to Russian federation was introduced by the Fair Russia party.
According to the initiators of the law “there is no effective sovereign power in Ukraine which could protect the rights and freedoms of its civilians.”
“Inclusion of any territory to Russia will take place after the referendum of the region which wants to be a part of the Russia,” add Fair Russia officials.
Crimea has scheduled a referendum for March 16 on whether it wants to remain part of Ukraine or join Russia.
Victor #Yanukovich to make statement at 9am GMT today http://t.co/61ClrQe5jp#Ukraine
— RT (@RT_com) March 11, 2014
A new bill on the role of Ukraine's National Guard will be introduced in the Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday, interim minister of internal affairs Arsen Avakov announced.
The National Guard is expected to be tasked with border security and the protection of public order in the country, as self-defense units in southern Ukraine are taking an oath of allegiance to Crimea.
10 March 2014
UDAR party leader Vitaly Klitschko was pelted with eggs and apples at his own party's rally in Kharkov. The former heavyweight boxing champion used an umbrella to shield himself. Around 100 people carrying anti-EU and pro-Russian posters booed the opposition leader before a police cordon separated them from Klitschko's supporters.
Police in Crimea have detained a number of people who, under the guise of policemen, were damaging citizens’ passports. According to authorities, an undisclosed number of suspects were arrested on Monday in the cities of Simferopol and Saki.
“The perpetrators disguised as police officers demanded that citizens show their passports , after which they were taken away or damaged " police said in a press release.
Law enforcers are calling on anyone affected by the fraudulent actions to immediately contact authorities to recover their documents.
Crimean news service also reported that scammers disguised as police officers in Evpatoria were offering to exchange Ukrainian passports for Russian ones. They were reportedly visiting homes and offering “simplified replacement procedures.”
Earlier, the mayor's office in Simferopol voiced fears that the suspects are trying to derail the referendum scheduled for March 16. The office explained that no additional verification of the documents before the referendum day is required.
The fifth meeting of the UN Security Council on Ukraine, held behind closed doors, has ended without any results.
The World Bank is prepared to offer Ukraine $3 billion in aid in 2014 to support “economic reforms” in the country, the bank said in a statement. It failed to specify particular conditions for the loan.
“We are committed to supporting the people of Ukraine in these difficult times and very much hope that the situation in the country stabilizes soon,” bank president Jim Yong Kim said.
"Ukraine's economy is facing a number of serious challenges that will require urgent action in the short term as well as sustained reform over the medium and longer term," the bank said.
The World Bank announcement comes in addition to promises from the International Monetary Fund, the United States, and the European Union to consider all means of helping Ukraine's struggling economy.
Crimean authorities have ruled that local district administrations of the autonomy are now under control of and accountable to the Council of Ministers of Crimea and not the authorities in Kiev, the press service of the Crimean parliament announced.
Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland has asked the Venice Commission to pass a verdict on the legality of Crimea’s upcoming referendum on succession.
"I asked the Venice Commission to prepare an expert opinion regarding the legality of the planned referendum in Crimea and express an opinion on the legality of the Russian State Duma's decision regarding the possible annexation to the Russian Federation of the territory of another country," he said in Kiev on Monday, as quoted by Interfax.
The Venice Commission acts as an advisory organ of the Council of Europe, and is comprised of independent constitutional law experts. It was created in 1990 to offer constitutional assistance in Central and Eastern Europe.
Jagland added that the Council of Europe is prepared to offer Ukraine expert advice on constitutional issues.
He noted that a monitoring group could help supervise the probe into human rights violations in Ukraine.
"We are talking about an international council of experts who could have been able to control the process of the investigation and establishment of justice in relation to people whose rights have been violated," Jagland said.
More than 1 billion hryvna (at least $110 million) belonging to the regional budget of Crimea, has been frozen by the coup-appointed government in Kiev, according to the region’s treasury department. The aim was to “leave 200 thousand employees without pay, and 180 thousand children without subsidies,” according to a statement put out by the Crimean parliament. Local lawmakers also said that the asset freeze was carried out to sabotage the independence referendum on March 16.
Pro-Russian former Kharkov region Governor Mikhail Dobkin has been arrested in Kiev and will face charges of “inciting violations of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and anti-constitutional behavior," according to his lawyer Yulia Pletneva.
The exact nature of Dobkin’s whereabouts and potential charges against him had been a source of speculation in the Ukrainian media over the past fortnight. At various points, the former mayor - then governor of one of the most populous areas of the country - had been accused of attempting to flee Ukraine and resisting arrest.
Dobkin, who has said that he plans to run in May’s presidential election, has persistently denied those reports, and voluntarily entered the police station prior to his detention.
Pletneva said that Dobkin will ask to be placed under house arrest, and will plead ‘not guilty’ to all charges.
Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksenov says he has “reached an agreement” with the Tatar minority that constitutes more than 10 percent of the population of the peninsula. According to Aksenov, Tatar representatives will be offered a vice premiership, and at least two more posts in the local government, following personal negotiations with official and informal community leaders.
“We are all for friendly relations between ethnicities,” said Aksenov, who pointed out that Tatar representation in local government would almost double.
“[If Crimea joins Russia] the Tatars will be subject to Russian laws, which allow different groups to exist side by side. They will have the same rights as us – as Russian citizens.”
On Monday, NATO gave the go-ahead to Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) for reconnaissance flights over Poland and Romania in order help monitor the crisis in Ukraine.
Moldovan Prime Minister Iurie Leanca has denied rumors about the Russian military boasting a contingent in the Trans-Dniester Region.
"Even theoretically, it is impossible. Apparently, rumors are being spread to aggravate the already uneasy situation in the region. We are following the situation in the Trans-Dniester Region and know what is happening there. There are no grounds for anxiety,” Leanca said, commenting on the information reported in Moldovian media.
Russia has prepared its own counter proposals to the US regarding the resolution of the political crisis in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Vladimir Putin.
“They are aimed at bringing the situation [in Ukraine] into the framework of international law, with the interests of all Ukrainians, with no exceptions made, taken into account,” the Russian FM is cited by RIA-Novosti news agency as saying.
As for the set of measures proposed by US Secretary of State, John Kerry, last week, the Russian side is dissatisfied that they were “put together in line with the presence of an alleged conflict between Russia and Ukraine,” Lavrov stressed.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has expressed hope that US diplomats will pay more attention to the consequences of “uncontrolled circulation of arms, stolen by the militants from weapon and ammunition depots” in Ukraine.
The ministry has called such incidents “really dangerous and unpredictable,” citing reports of dozens of Igla man-portable air defense systems going missing in the country after the coup.
The Russian Foreign Ministry says it was surprised by a statement from the US representative to OSCE, Daniel Baer, who called on Moscow to assist in the free movement of the organization’s military observers on Crimean territory.
Russia’s is the “wrong addressee” for such a call “as all of OSCE’s monitoring activities in the Crimea should be coordinated with the legitimate Crimean authorities,” the ministry stressed.
“It’s puzzling and that Mr. Baer didn’t mention that this issue has already been discussed in the framework of the OSCE,” the statement added. “On March 5, the Russian side had officially informed all of the OSCE participating states of its refusal to allow visiting Russian military facilities deployed in the Crimean, due to force-majeure circumstances.”
Nearly 15,000 people in the Russian city of Perm in the Urals have gathered for a demonstration to support Russian speakers in the autonomous republic of Crimea, according to local police estimates.
Earlier on Monday, a demonstration in the Russian cities of Chita in Eastern Siberia, Chelyabinsk in the Urals and Vologda in the northwest of the country gathered thousands of people in support of Russian-speaking citizens in Ukraine.
The autonomous Republic of Crimea will introduce the Russian ruble should Crimea become a part of Russia after the March-16 referendum.
“I think having two currencies – Russian ruble and Ukrainian hryvna – is a required step,” said the speaker of the Supreme Council of Crimea, Vladimir Konstantinov.
According to Konstantinov, salaries will be paid in Russian rubles as well as product prices if the region becomes a part of Russia.
The Russian language has been declared an official administrative language in Sevastopol, a city with a special status which is located in the Crimean peninsula.
“Taking into consideration the norms of international law and the fact that the Russian language is the mother tongue of the majority of the people [in Sevastopol], the city authorities have declared Russian as an official language of clerical work,” said Dmitry Belik, the acting head of the Sevastopol administration.
Earlier, all official interactions in Sevastopol were made in the Ukrainian language.
Nearly 15,000 people in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in the Urals have gathered for a demonstration to support the Russian speaking population of Ukraine, according to local police estimates. Both representatives of public organizations and common citizens attended the demonstration.
The rallies supporting Russian-speaking citizens in Ukraine have recently attracted thousands in Russian cities.
Russia expressed outrage over the reported attack of masked gunmen, supposedly members of the radical group Right Sector, on a peaceful demonstration in Kharkov on Saturday, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
The ministry also criticized the coupe-imposed government for encroaching on freedom of the press by barring seven Russian journalists from entering Ukraine, on a pretext of allegedly biased reporting, and for the ongoing blockade of travel between Russia and Ukraine.
The statement said western countries, rights organizations and media are keeping a “shamefaced silence” on these issues, which puts in question their adherence to objectivity and democracy.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has told US President Barack Obama that all sides need to act with calm and restraint in the Ukraine crisis to avoid an escalation of tensions, China's foreign ministry says. "Political and diplomatic routes must be used to resolve the crisis," the Chinese leader said on Monday.
09 March 2014
An unidentified assailant opened fire at a cafe in central Kharkov, killing two customers and wounding a waiter. The suspect was in a car and used a machine gun to shoot through the cafe’s window before leaving the weapon at the scene. The two victims were Kharkov citizens. An investigation is underway.
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder believes wrong EU policies in Ukraine are the cause for the crisis in Crimea, Spiegel reported. According to Schroeder, it was wrong of the EU to propose an association agreement to Ukraine under conditions which required the divided country to choose between the EU and Russia's customs agreement.
Political analyst Patrick Hennigsen told RT that it makes sense for Kiev to have a strong local economic relationship with Russia, and the closer ties to the EU mean bigger debts.
"The Ukrainian economic ties with Russia, its not something that you can just wipe off the table. If you ask people now, if you look at what Ukraine is looking forward to in terms of being addled down with billions of debt - the country is an absolute mess economically and then to have the IMF to allow transnational corporations to come in and scoop up Ukrainian state assets and rise gas and electricity prices. I think if you ask Ukrainians in about two year time, they would rather have the stability of local partnership with Russia. I don't think they're going to see that in the very near future, but they will in long term possible," said Hennigsen.
Watch RT's full interview with Patrick Hennigsen:
A provocation by a group of radicals has been prevented in the port city of Sevastopol, Crimea, reports ITAR-TASS. The incident occurred during a meeting devoted to the 200th anniversary of the birth of Taras Shevchenko, which was held near a monument to the Ukrainian poet. The celebration was interrupted when “comers from Western Ukraine started shouting Nazi slogans and called on Sevastopol residents to ignore the March 16 referendum,” the agency was told at the People's Self-Defense headquarters.
Police confirmed that 20 people were detained but refrained from further comments. However, a source at the Sevastopol law enforcement agency told ITAR-TASS that members of the Right Sector nationalist group were among the detainees.
In a separate incident, two pro-Maidan activists began shooting near the monument and were detained by self-defense squads. No one was injured. A criminal case was opened. Police seized a knife and a gun from the detainees, who confessed that they arrived from Kiev, where they were given the weapon.
Former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky has addressed a crowd on Maidan, accusing Russia of involvement in the bloody February clashes, in which more than 100 people were killed.
Khodorkovsky claimed that force was used against the protesters “with the agreement of the Russian authorities.”
The former tycoon – who spent 10 years in jail for tax evasion, embezzlement, and money laundering and left for Europe upon release in December – also dismissed allegations that neo-Nazi groups have been taking an active part in protests, calling the accusations “Russian propaganda.”
“There are no fascists or Nazis here,” Khodorkovsky claimed.
Accusations of Russian special forces being “complicit” in the Kiev violence have also been taken on by new coup-imposed Kiev authorities after a leaked phone call between Estonia’s foreign minister and the EU's foreign policy chief revealed suspicions that the snipers responsible for the February carnage could have been hired by someone from the new Ukrainian “coalition.”
Kiev-picked Ukrainian Health Minister Oleh Musiy on Saturday confirmed that bullet wounds suffered by both the opposition and police were similar, according to AP. The official, however, blamed the shootings on Russian “special forces” who “served” the Yanukovich regime.
Crimea wants to keep its status of autonomous parliamentary republic if it joins the Russian Federation following the March-16 referendum, the speaker of the Supreme Council of Crimea, Vladimir Konstantinov, has announced.
More than 3,500 people travelling from Russia into Ukraine have been refused entry since March 3, according to first deputy head of the Ukrainian Border Guard, Pavel Shisholin.
“As of today, more than 3.5 thousand people, including 16 journalists, were not allowed to enter, as they were unwanted on the territory of Ukraine,” Shisholin said at a session of the coup-imposed Kiev government on Sunday.
The border police are also ramping up their presence on the border with Autonomous Republic of Crimea, according to an order issued by Kiev and published on the website of the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and UK Prime Minister David Cameron have discussed the situation in Ukraine and the looming Crimean referendum over the phone on Sunday, according to a statement issued by the Kremlin press-service.
Putin said that the actions of the Crimean authorities are aimed at protecting the legitimate interests of the population of the region. The steps undertaken by the Crimean parliament are in full accordance with international law, he stressed.
Despite the difference of opinions, the sides have agreed that the de-escalation of tension in Ukraine is in everyone’s interest, the statement noted.
Thousands anti-Maidan demonstrators rallying in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk have blocked and occupied the regional administration building, hoisting a Russian flag on its top. The protesters are demanding Mikhail Bolotskikh, the region’s head, picked by coup-imposed Kiev government, to step down.
According to Itar-Tass, some 3,000 people are taking part in the Lugansk protests and about 1,000 have broken inside the building.
Луганск, сторонники России штурмуют администрацию pic.twitter.com/xAhBXf6h8q
— Alexey (@Alekzzzzz) March 9, 2014
Before the takeover, pro-Russian demonstrators reportedly clashed with Euromaidan activists demonstrating near a monument to Ukrainian poet, Taras Shevchenko, whose 200th birthday is celebrated this Sunday.
Several hundred people organised a flash mob at the central square of Sevastopol on Sunday, forming a living Russian flag. People held coloured paper in a syncronised order in order to create the impression of the Russian flag from above.
One “does not talk in the language of sanctions in the modern world,” special representative of the Russian President at Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Kirill Barsky, said in a statement published on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website.
“In today’s world, which is connected through and through by the binding fabric of globalization, the very idea of international isolation of a large state, let alone that of a world power, should a priori be perceived by any reasonable man as an obvious oddity,” Barsky said.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, have discussed the situation in Ukraine over the phone and ways of solving the current crisis there, according to a statement, issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Ukrainian Railways (UZ) have stopped selling tickets to trains going to Crimea, according to an official statement on the company’s website. UZ have given an assurance that those who had already bought tickets will be able to reach their destination. However, it was not immediately clear if and when the railway routes would be resumed and in service again.
As of Sunday, Russian Railways (RZD) are still selling tickets to Crimea.
Crimean Vice-Premier Rustam Temirgaliev told Interfax that the authorities are expecting that some additional railway traffic to and from Russia will be ferried over the Kerch Strait. A bridge connecting Kerch and Russia’s Krasnodar Region is also being built “at a rapid pace,” he said.
"Moscow is our capital","Russia! Russia!" chanted as large flash mob form Russian flag in Sevastopol @Ruptly@RT_compic.twitter.com/0Qza5WftA2
— Ryan O'Neill (@Everything_Left) March 9, 2014
Seven thousand pro-Russian protesters have gathered in the center of Donetsk, southeast Ukraine, to demand a referendum on the status of the Donetsk region and the release of the “People’s Governor”, Pavel Gubarev, Interfax reports.
Донецк сейчас pic.twitter.com/NLhYGfnxEn
— Владимир (@VladimirDoneck) March 9, 2014
Russia is ready to support Crimean industrial enterprises financially, according to deputy head of the Russian parliament’s committee for the industrial sector, Pavel Dorokhin.
“The Russian government has allocated a big sum of money, around 40bln rubles ($1.1bln), to support the Crimean industrial and economic infrastructure,” Dorokhin told Interfax. “Our priority is support for enterprises of military-industrial complex, machinery manufacturing, maintenance of vessels, including those of the Russian Black Sea fleet.”
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said on Sunday he would go to the US this week to discuss the standoff with Russia over Ukraine's southern region of Crimea.
"I am going to the United States to hold top-level meetings on resolving the situation unfolding in our bilateral and multilateral relations," Yatseniuk said at the start of a government meeting in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.
He did not immediately give any dates and provided no other details of the visit. (Reuters)
Several thousand people have gathered in the center of the Crimean capital, Simferopol, for a rally in support of the region joining Russia, Itar-Tass reports.
В центре Симферополя пахнет Россией! #симферопольpic.twitter.com/wjxrcSxk8X
— Фото из Симферополя (@InstaSimferopol) March 9, 2014
Around 10,000 people have taken part in a rally in support of Ukraine in Maikop, in the Russian Republic of Adygea, local police report, as cited by Interfax.
Ukraine’s self-imposed authorities have blocked the electronic system of Crimea’s treasury and frozen the autonomy’s accounts, said Crimean Deputy PM Rustam Temirgaliyev. However, he says this will not affect state payments like pensions, Interfax reports.
“We are now quickly opening accounts in Russian banks, including ruble accounts. People won’t have to go without pensions; the situation is under control,” he said, adding that local authorities will prevent any “catastrophic consequences” of Kiev’s recent move.
Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s commissioner for human rights in his twitter uged western politicians not to let the leader of the Ukrainian ultra nationalist group “Right Sector”, Dmitry Yarosh, come to power.
“De-facto authorities in Kiev and their western patrons must block the access to power for neo nazi Yarosh and his backers,” Dolgov wrote.
Five regional heads of police have been dismissed by Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, who announced the decision on his Facebook page. Those fired include Igor Avrutsky, the head of the Crimean police.
According to estimates by Crimean authorities, two thirds of the region’s residents could vote in favor of joining Russia. RT’s Paula Slier went to Crimea’s capital, Simferopol, to collect opinions on the issue from people in the streets.
Rallies in support of Ukraine and Russians living there will be held in a number of Russian cities on March 9 and 10. According to organizers, cited by Itar-Tass, around 30,000 people will take part. Rallies are expected to take place in Astrakhan, Pskov, Arkhangelsk, Chelyabinsk, Vologda, Perm and Chita.
The Ukrainian coup-imposed government has announced its officials are subject to austerity cuts. The measure is “aimed at stabilizing the economic situation in the country as well as for saving and rational use of government funds,” the Ukrainian cabinet of ministers’ online statement reads. Austerity cuts are announced for government bodies and many kinds of state-sponsored enterprises and organizations. They have been ordered to stop buying cars (except ambulance, fire-fighting and rescue vehicles), furniture, mobile phones, laptops, etc. Charter flights and phone calls will no longer be reimbursed from the budget. Government officials will see their allowances cut.
08 March 2014
The anti-fascist march activists were shot minutes after their protest finished in Kharkov, Ukraine, LifeNews and Glagol reported. A bus with ten people inside stopped and began shooting at the activists. The men then came closer and reportedly began beating the activists. Three people were injured, one of whom sustained a gunshot wound in his back.
US President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande agreed in a phone conversation on Saturday to establish a contact group to help settle the Ukrainian crisis, which will require Russian consent. In case this does not work out, the West will be forced to introduce new measures that will "have a substantial impact on relations between the international community and Russia,” ITAR-TASS quoted the the Elysee Palace as saying.
“In the current serious circumstances, they stressed the importance for Russia to accept the formation of a contact group for initiating dialogue between Ukraine and Russia, in order to promote a peaceful way out of the crisis promptly and fully restore the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” Elysee Palace added.
Around 3,000 people attended a rally on Kharkov's central square to voice support for ethnic Russians living in Crimea, on Saturday, Ruptly news agency reports. A heavy police presence was seen on the square, where they guarded the city hall and regional administration buildings.
Protesters chanted slogans such as "Russia-Russia", "Kharkiv-Kharkiv", and "Fascism will not pass".
Organizers of the rally voiced their willingness to protect Kharkiv from Kiev's new interim authorities. Organizers also stated they want to stop 'Bandera fascists from Kiev', and reinstate relations with 'brotherly Russia'.
The Czech Foreign Ministry announced Saturday that four central European countries are interested in importing natural gas from the US and reducing their dependence on Russia. The Visegrad 4 group – which consists of Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia – is asking US Congress to ease the rules for import.
The US supports Baltic states and will be standing by its NATO defense commitments, US President Barack Obama said on Saturday during a teleconference with Baltic leaders including Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, the White House stated.
"The President reaffirmed the United States' unwavering commitment to our collective defense commitments under the North Atlantic Treaty and our enduring support for the security and democracy of our Baltic allies," Reuters quoted the White House as saying.
US Secretary of State John Kerry told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in a telephone call on Saturday that any Russian steps to annex Ukraine's Crimea region would close the door to diplomacy, a U.S. State Department official said.
"He made clear that continued military escalation and provocation in Crimea or elsewhere in Ukraine, along with steps to annex Crimea to Russia would close any available space for diplomacy, and he urged utmost restraint," the official said. (Reuters)
The situation in Ukraine is very tense, Russia’s Foreign Ministry stated in Twitter on Saturday night. The so-called "Right Sector" calls the tune by using terror and intimidation, they added.
#Lavrov: Threats are made not only against officials in Kiev and Ukraine’s regions,but also heads of Russia’s regions bordering on Ukraine
— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) March 8, 2014
Russia is ready to continue the dialogue assuming it should be equal and honest without presenting Moscow as party to the conflict, the Ministry concluded.
The Autonomous Republic of Crimea could come under Russian jurisdiction as early as late March if Crimeans vote to join the Russian Federation next Sunday, the speaker of the region’s Supreme Council, Vladimir Konstantinov, has claimed.
“The transition from one jurisdiction to the other is a complicated process, but I think in the case of favorable outcome of the referendum, the Crimeans will be able to feel as citizens of another country within one month – within March,” Konstantinov said, as quoted by RIA Novosti.
Thousands of pro-Russian demonstrators rallied in Sevastopol on Saturday, calling on everyone to cast their votes at the March 16 All-Crimean referendum. The organizers of the event displayed a huge banner with the words of famous Russian Admiral Pavel Nakhimov, who was killed in the Crimean War: “Protect Sevastopol to the last!” Speaking at the rally, city administration officials promised that new, larger social security benefits are being readied for the residents of Sevastopol.
Meanwhile, Crimean authorities have announced that if the region’s population votes in support of joining the Russian Federation, the autonomy’s budget will become larger than under the Ukrainian standards. According to the speaker of the Crimean Supreme Council, Vladimir Konstantinov, the authorities “did not count on that” but the Russian side gave “guarantees” of budget enlargement.
President Barack Obama made a series of phone calls on Saturday to world leaders about the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, including British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande, and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi the White House said.
He also held a conference call about the situation with the presidents of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a statement. No further details about the discussions were immediately available. (Reuters)
Ukraine's ambassador to Russia and a deputy Russian foreign minister held a meeting on Saturday, the Russian foreign ministry said. Envoy Vladimir Yelchenko met deputy minister Grigory Karasin and "issues of Russo-Ukrainian relations were discussed in a cordial atmosphere."
Military assessment visitors from OSCE States turned back from Crimea checkpoint at Armyans'k. Warning shots fired. Everyone safe. #Ukraine
— OSCE (@OSCE) March 8, 2014
A first detachment of volunteers has sworn allegiance to Crimea in the republic’s capital, Simferopol.
“Today, 50 people are taking an oath,” Aleksandr Bochkaryov, a commander in the volunteers regiment said. “They have been thoroughly checked, each has military service experience, and the majority of them have combat experience.”
After swearing allegiance, volunteers will be issued a weapon, if necessary, to protect Crimea.
“Of course, if everything is quiet, just as we expect it to be, no weapons will handed out,” Bochkaryov said.
In total, there are about 1,500 volunteers in Crimea.
Hundreds have gathered for a pro-Russian rally in Ukraine's eastern city of Donetsk.
Rosatom, Russia's state energy corporation, said on Saturday it would resume nuclear fuel shipments to Europe via Ukraine after Kiev lifted a ban imposed during anti-government protests earlier this year on transporting the hazardous material.
The ban was introduced on January 28 by the government of now-deposed President Viktor Yanukovich, who fled the country last month after a popular uprising.
Rosatom said the ban ended on Thursday and the first rail shipment of nuclear fuel in 2014 via Ukraine to eastern Europe was expected next week.
Nuclear power stations that have contracts with Rosatom for the supply of nuclear fuel include Kozloduy in Bulgaria, Paks in Hungary, Dukovany and Temelin in the Czech Republic, and Bohunice in Slovakia. (Reuters)
Military assessment visitors from OSCE States to attempt entry into Crimea today - Saturday - at Armyans'k #Ukraine
— OSCE (@OSCE) March 8, 2014
Russia is considering a freeze on US military inspections under an arms control pact, Interfax reported, citing a top source in the Russian Defense Ministry.
“We are ready to take this step in response to the Pentagon’s statements about the halt in collaboration between military departments in Russia and the US,” the source said.
“We consider unfounded threats to Russia from the US and NATO regarding Russia’s Ukrainian policies as an unfriendly gesture,” the source added.
Because of continuing disturbances by Russian forces there, we have reluctantly evacuated our consulate @PLinSevastopol in Crimea, Ukraine.
— Radosław Sikorski (@sikorskiradek) March 8, 2014
3,000 people have gathered in the center of the city of Kharkov, demanding a referendum on the status of the region, Itar-Tass news agency reported.
The city administration has been surrounded and closed off by hundreds of police officers.
В Харькове на площади Свободы проходит пророссийский митинг (ФОТО) pic.twitter.com/Qgduh9AinU
— RT на русском (@RT_russian) March 8, 2014
Crimea’s authorities are ready to provide a successful holding of the March-16 referendum on the status of the Autonomous Republic and to ensure security for residents as radicals foment provocations, Crimean vice PM Olga Kovitidi has told Interfax.
“We know that reactionaries in Kiev are preparing a range of provocations against Crimea. Their goal is to disrupt the Crimean referendum and destabilize the situation in the republic,” she said.
According to information the Crimean government has received, Maidan activists are now trying to rally opponents of the referendum from other Ukrainian regions in order to instigate unrest in the peninsula.
The referendum – which had initially been planned for late May – was rescheduled for an earlier date also for security reasons, Crimean PM Sergey Aksyonov told Rossiya 1 channel. He added that the voting is legitimate and “no one can cancel it.”
Moscow expects clear-cut reaction from Ukraine and western countries to threats to Russia, coming from Dmitry Yarosh, the leader of the nationalist “Right sector” group, according to a statement by Russia’s Foreign Ministry.
The radical group’s page at one of the social networks earlier featured a post, urging the leader of the Chechen terrorists, Doku Umarov, to support the “Right sector”. The group argues its page was hacked.
The coup-imposed government in Kiev is highly dependent on far-right groups, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press-conference in Moscow.
“The so-called interim government is not self-sufficient, and, to great regret, depends upon radical nationalists, who carried out the military coup,” Lavrov said. “The west is quite well informed of what they the [radicals] represent, but for political reasons, it tries to conceal the facts.”
While the EU leadership says it's ready to support Ukraine's new government with loans, not all EU taxpayers appear to embrace the idea of taking on another struggling economy, which isn't even part of the bloc, as RT’s Paula Slier found out.
Ukraine might soon announce setting up a special commission to investigate the identity of the snipers, who shot at both protesters and police during the late-February Maidan rallies in Kiev.
Earlier, a leaked phone conversation between EU foreign affairs chief ,Catherine Ashton, and the Estonian foreign affairs minister, Urmas Paet, emerged online. There, Paet said that snipers were hired by the opposition.
"The decision is made to announce in the near future the creation of an official commission, probably parliamentary, likely consisting of members of different parties, including the Party of Regions and international experts, may be from Russia as well,” an official from a Ukrainian law enforcement agency, who concealed his name, told Interfax via phone.
The information has not been officially confirmed.
Sevastopol residents are planning a flash-mob for Sunday, which would see people form a giant “live” flag of the Russian Federation. Organizers of the event, who are calling on people to join it via social networks, say the slogan of the flash-mob is “Make the right choice”.
"As the information war rages on we want to gather as many non-indifferent people as we can to raise the “live” flag, which would show the world our attitude, the attitude of the people of Crimea. We are peaceful people and are friends with Russia. Russia is not our enemy, but is our hope and protection,” the organizers' statement says, as cited by Interfax.
RT’s Peter Oliver takes a closer look at the Ukrainian extremist Right Sector group, which has reportedly demanded access to the country’s arsenals. The leader of the ultra nationalist activists, Dmitriy Yarosh, has recently announced he is running for President of Ukraine.
First deputy speaker of the Crimean parliament, Grigory Ioffe, has explained why authorities of the region decided to change the referendum question from one about greater autonomy within Ukraine to the possibility of joining Russia. He said that was done because of pressure from Kiev, following the announcement of the referendum.
“Unfortunately the events which took place made the Crimean government change the referendum question,” he said as cited by Interfax. “You know what happened? There were all kinds of court proceedings, mean words, accusations, legal action.”
Now the referendum to be held March 16 will be about Crimeans deciding whether the region should remain part of Ukraine or become part of Russia.
China believes the crisis in Ukraine should only be settled by political means and is ready to facilitate the process, according to China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
"The development of the situation in Ukraine has its reasons and causes regret,” Yi said, as cited by Itar-Tass. "The Ukrainian issue reflects the country's complicated history. The more complicated an issue is, the more accurate measures should be used to settle it."
"China continues supporting contacts with the respective parties, and we are ready to play a constructive role in settlement of the Ukrainian crisis by political methods," the minister added.
07 March 2014
Former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko arrived in Berlin on Friday where she is set to undergo medical treatment at Charite Hospital, Ruptly news agency reports. In Dublin Thursday, Tymoshenko told reporters that she rejected a proposal for a Crimean referendum on joining the Russian Federation, which was passed by Crimea's regional parliament. She was released from custody on February 22.
When coup-imposed Ukrainian President Aleksandr Turchinov refers to Crimea’s referendum as “illegitimate,” he forgets that he is illegitimate himself, as he came to power by toppling the government, the head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, Aleksey Pushkov, wrote on his Twitter account.
Russia said on Friday any US sanctions imposed against Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine would boomerang back on the United States and urged Washington not to damage bilateral ties.
In a phone conversation with US Secretary of State John Kerry, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov "warned against hasty and reckless steps capable of causing harm to Russian-American relations, particularly ... sanctions, which would inevitably hit the United States like a boomerang", the Foreign Ministry said. (Reuters)
All the events that led to the coup in Kiev need to be thoroughly investigated, as they may reveal “more interesting things,” Russia’s UN Ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, told RT. Churkin was commenting on the leaked phone conversation between Estonian Foreign Affairs Minister Urmas Paet and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, in which Paet referred to the alleged hiring of Kiev snipers by opposition leaders.
According to Churkin, the investigation could draw a “completely different picture” to what is being presented in US media and by some US and European politicians.
“If the authorities are being established by coup, by shooting at your own people in order to provoke outrage and topple [the] government by force, this is not democracy at all,” Churkin stressed.
Allegations of Ukrainian MPs being beaten up and intimidated by threats and “uninvited visitors” also need to be looked into, Churkin said, adding that he already raised this issue at the UN Security Council meeting.
The Ukrainian crisis can only be resolved through a constitutional process, which means going in line with the February 21 agreement between ousted President Yanukovich and former opposition leaders, and such a process must “involve all regions” of the country, the Russian diplomat stressed.
Crimea is not looking for any “privileges” from Russia if it joins the country, and Crimean authorities are certain the regional economy will prosper after getting rid of Ukrainian corruption, Grigory Ioffe, first deputy chair of Crimea’s parliament, told journalists.
Ioffe stressed that the Crimean referendum will be “very democratic and open” and will be held “in full compliance” with both the Ukrainian constitution and the international treaties that Ukraine had adopted. International observers, including those from the OSCE, as well as media and NGO representatives are “most welcome” to observe the referendum, he said.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has stated that the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) should condemn the violent actions of Maidan supporters and admit the illegitimacy of the coup in Kiev.
Also, the Foreign Ministry is counting on the EU not to make a move that may undermine trust in it as a strategic partner of Russia.
Plus, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spoke against the double standards of several OSCE participant countries and the organization’s executive organs.
Military assessment visitors from OSCE States denied entry into Crimea on Friday, heading back to Kherson to plan next steps #Ukraine
— OSCE (@OSCE) March 7, 2014
An International Monetary Fund mission in Ukraine is "progressing well", Reza Moghadam, the director of the IMF's European Department, said on Friday.
He said the IMF stood ready to support the government's economic program to put Ukraine "on the path of good economic governance and sustainable growth" and that consultations would continue. (Reuters)
General Secretary of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, and Austria’s Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz are gearing up to propose that Ukraine conduct expert analysis into its human rights record. The talks to decide this issue will be on Monday.
Over 65,000 people have gathered for a Moscow rally and concert in support of Crimea, according to the Russian Interior Ministry.
#ВасильевскийСпуск#заРусскийКрым#Крым#митинг#Москваpic.twitter.com/Cy6VG1pKRD
— Alex Sem4ev (@AlexSem4) March 7, 2014
Germans have treated the idea of sanctions against Russia coldly, according to the latest public poll, conducted by Infratest Dimap for the ARD TV channel and Welt newspaper. Only 38 percent of Germans voted for the economic sanctions against Russia, while 72 per cent were against the sanctions.
Russia will respect any choice Crimeans make on the status of the autonomous republic, says Sergey Naryshkin, the speaker of the State Duma.
“We will support the free and democratic choice of Crimea’s population,” he said during a meeting with a delegation of Crimeans in Moscow.
The Russian Foreign Ministry is stunned by the intentional distortion of facts by the Ukrainian mass media regarding official contacts of Moscow and Kiev.
“We’re surprised and even shocked at the rude manner of many Ukrainian media distorting words of Russia’s official representative in the UN [Vitaly Churkin] on contacts between Russian and Kiev authorities,” the statement said, slamming as “particularly provocative” the recently-spun “news” about Russia being ready to break diplomatic relations with Ukraine. Vitaly Churkin spoke to journalists after the UN Security Council hold consultations behind closed doors on the situation in Ukraine.
Moscow pointed out that full text with the video version of Russia’s UN representative media briefing is available on official webpage of the Permanent Delegation of the Russian Federation to the UN in New York.
Expulsion of Russian military students from Canada destroys positive connections between the two countries, told journalists Deputy Russia’s Foreign Ministry Anatoly Antonov. “The motivation behind the move is the decision of the Canadian government taken on March 4 on scaling back military contacts with Russia,” Antonov noted, stressing that “this hasn’t come as a surprise for us.” Ottawa has taken a highly hostile position towards Russia, attempting in a rude manner to get ahead of other Western powers in “punishing” Russia (over developments in Ukraine), Antonov said. “We’d like to point out that we need military collaboration with Canada exactly as much as Canada needs a military cooperation with Russia,” he said.
UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Shimonovich is due to visit Crimea during his ongoing visit to Ukraine.
“Shimonovich will make assessment of the existing and potential human rights abuses in Ukraine. He plans to visit Crimea, as well as the western and the eastern regions of Ukraine,” Rupert Colwill, press secretary of the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, has announced.
According to Colwill, Shimonovich will be assisted by seven human rights experts, two of whom are currently in Kiev.
Vice-speaker of the State Duma and leader of the ruling United Russia faction, Vladimir Vasilyev, believes that Kiev is not doing enough to find out who is behind the killings during the violent uprising in the Ukrainian capital.
“Acts of violence, looting, killings – they have essentially not been investigated,” Vasilyev said, as cited by Interfax. He added the information keeps coming in in the form of leaks and recorded phone calls, and is somewhat ambiguous.
Possible European visa sanctions against Russia will not yet affect ordinary Russian citizens, EU envoy to Russia Vygaudas Usackas said in an interview to Echo of Moscow radio.
“An ordinary person, a citizen of Russia, who is now able to apply for a visa to the EU – those people will not have any obstacles, at the moment,” Usackas said.
The current circumstances in the east of Ukraine and Crimea were not inspired by Russia, President Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Russia, according to Peskov, is merely a country being asked for help.
“And as Putin put it, Russia is the country which in no way can ignore these events. But the origin of those events is inside Ukraine,” ITAR-TASS cited Peskov as saying.
Ukrainian troops, who do not recognize the new government of Crimea, will be able to leave the peninsular freely, according to Vladimir Konstantinov, the speaker of the Crimean parliament.
“It will then go like this: if you do not want to swear allegiance to the new authorities, we will do everything for you to peacefully and calmly leave the territory. No problem. We understand you. That’s a tough situation. You swore your allegiance, although to whom is now a big question,” Konstantinov said as cited by the Crimean parliament.
“Those who stay will be assigned to the new armed forces with new rules, and, by the way, new working conditions and salary and retirement settlement, etc,” he added.
Ukrainian Paralympic chief, Valery Sushkevich, said on Friday his team would pull out of the Winter Paralympic Games if Russian troops invaded Ukraine.
"I am very afraid that despite the world's wishes and my call that the irreversible will happen during the Paralympics. I declare: we will pull out of the 11th Paralympic Games in Russia that very second if the thing we fear and which we are against ... happens," he told a news conference, clearly referring to a possible invasion by Russian troops into Ukraine. (Reuters)
Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened criminal cases in regard of threats received by the heads of four Russian southern regions: Belgorodskaya, Kurskaya, Bryanskaya and Voronezhskaya.
The threats via email were allegedly sent by Ukrainian radical nationalist groups after the Crimea region initiated breaking away from Ukraine.
There will be no war between Russia and Ukraine, the speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament said on Friday.
"It's complete nonsense, it absolutely does not reflect our intentions, the feelings of empathy and the pain we feel for the Ukrainian people," said Valentina Matvienko, head of the Russian Federation Council.
"We are absolutely sure that there will never be a war between the two brotherly nations."
RT correspondent recalls sniper-fire experience in Kiev, #Ukrainehttp://t.co/6aXLG8ihtc@Yaro_RTpic.twitter.com/VRhFRumUUV
— RT (@RT_com) March 7, 2014
The Central Election Commission of Ukraine has blocked access to the database of voters to the Crimean authorities, according to the commission’s press service, as quoted by RIA-Novosti.
The move comes ahead of the March 16 referendum on whether Crimea should become part of Russia’s territory.
The upper house of Russia’s parliament will support the decision of Crimea to enter the Russian Federation if the local population votes for it, Speaker Valentina Matvienko said at a meeting with the Crimean parliament delegation, ITAR-TASS reported.
“If the people of Crimea demonstrate their will and will make such a decision – about becoming a part of Russia’s territory – we as the upper chamber of parliament will support their decision,” she said.
Matvienko also added that Crimea's parliament has the right to hold a referendum on the region's future status.
"Without a doubt, the Crimean parliament, as a legitimate authority, has that right ... The sovereign right of the people to determine their future."
France’s Foreign Minister has said that if initial sanctions against Russia don’t work, there could be more sanctions that will target businesses and individuals.
"If there are not very swift results, there will be new measures aimed at those responsible and Russian businesses," Laurent Fabius told France Info radio.
Russian State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin has expressed readiness to treat with respect any decision that the Crimean residents will make.
“We’ll support free and democratic choice of the Crimean population,” Naryshkin said, as cited by Interfax.
Naryshkin made his statement during the meeting with the Crimean parliament delegation led by the head of Supreme Council Vladimir Konstantinov.
At an EU summit in Brussels, Ukraine's interim Prime Minister has claimed that there are Russian tanks on the ground in the country. That's despite Ukraine's own border patrol maintaining that no forces had crossed the frontier. In her regular report, Gayane Chichakyan has put together the many other claims around events in Ukraine that simply don't add up.
The Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs has published a list of 18 former Ukrainian officials and their relatives whose assets it is freezing.
The department’s statement says Kiev has asserted to the government of Canada “that each of the persons listed… has misappropriated property of Ukraine or has acquired property inappropriately by virtue of their office or a personal or business relationship.”
Among those on the Canadian financial sanctions list are ousted President Viktor Yanukovich, ex-PM Nikolay Azarov and his son, former Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka and his son, as well as other former heads of Ukrainian government bodies and law enforcement agencies. The list coincides with the one made public by the EU on Wednesday.
U.S. President Barack Obama spoke to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about the situation in Ukraine and agreed that Russia's actions there threatened world peace, the White House said on Thursday.
"The two leaders agreed that Russia's actions are a threat to international peace and security and emphasized the importance of preserving Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," the White House said in a statement about the call.
"They committed to work with other G-7 partners to insist that Russia abide by its obligations and commitments to Ukraine's sovereignty," it said. (Reuters)
Nine Russian soldiers involved in military exercises in Canada have been expelled from the country, CTV News reported. The soldiers were told Thursday afternoon that they had 24 hours to leave Canada.
The action comes days after Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper called for a halt to all planned bilateral activities between the Canadian Armed Forces and Russia’s military, including NORAD’s Exercise Vigilant Eagle.
During a telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his counterpart Barack Obama, the two identified differences in approach and analysis of the root causes of the current crisis in Ukraine, the Kremlin’s press office said. During the conversation, Putin stated that Russia and the US should not sacrifice their relationship for a separate - albeit important - international problems.
Putin added that Russia cannot ignore calls for help and is adequately responding within the framework of international law.
Obama also called on Putin to accept the terms of a diplomatic plan that would require Russia to pull troops back to bases in Crimea and discussed a proposal that would allow international monitors to "ensure that the rights of all Ukrainians are protected, including ethnic Russians," according to a White House statement.
06 March 2014
Ukraine’s Central Election Committee (CEC) has requested to temporarily block access for Crimean authorities to the State Voter Registry, CEC’s press service reported.
French President Francois Hollande confirmed that the agreement to sell two Mistral ships to Russia has not been suspended. Hollande told reporters after the EU summit that France is complying with signed agreements and is not at the stage of canceling them.
The US House has approved a US$1 billion loan guarantee measure for Ukraine. The package was approved by a 385 to 23 vote, with opposition coming from conservative Republicans. The proposal now heads to the Senate.
Sevastopol's city council agreed to carry out its own referendum on whether or not to join Russia, also scheduled for March 16.
The US is to send 12 F-16 fighter jets and 300 service personnel to Poland next week for a training exercise whose scope was expanded in response to the Ukrainian crisis, Polish Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said, Reuters reports.
Initially, the exercise, centered on the Lask air force base in Poland, was to have been smaller with the involvement of solely transport aircraft. But Poland requested it to be beefed up after Russia's “intervention” in Crimea, the minister said.
Forty-three military observers from 23 Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) member states attempted to enter Crimea on Thursday but then turned back to Odessa. Reuters cited Poland’s Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak as saying that the car in which the observers were travelling was “detained by unidentified men in fatigues.”
However, CBC’s Nahlah Ayed, citing the OSCE observers, reported that they decided to abandon their trip not to “disturb the local population” and that they will attempt to enter Crimea again on Friday.
According to the OSCE press-service, the mission includes observers from Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Also participating is a representative from the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre.
Washington is still unable to “reasonably perceive the development of the situation in Ukraine by anything other than American patterns,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
The Foreign Ministry also commented on reports of Russian citizens being refused entry into Ukraine.
“Such actions of Ukrainian border guards are contrary to the existing agreements,” the ministry stressed.
Any international means of settling the crisis in Ukraine must be fully supported by all the regions in the country, including Crimea, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
“Any process that might be backed must be based on the clearly expressed consent of all the regions in Ukraine, and above all were are concerned with the Crimea and other south-eastern regions,” Lavrov stressed.
Washington is continuing to aggravate the situation by threatening to impose sanctions against Russians, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said commenting on the White House statement. He added that such steps are not constructive.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says there is no agreement with US on Ukraine yet, after meeting his American counterpart John Kerry.
The number of people killed in violent Kiev clashes since November 30, 2013, has risen to 100, the Ukrainian Health Ministry said in a website statement.
“One person died at Kiev City Hospital No. 12 on March 5. He was admitted there for treatment on February 28,” the ministry said.
At least 1,075 people sought medical aid since February 18 and 698 of them hospitalized, the statement added. Thirty-six people have been injured and taken to hospital in the last 24 hours alone, it said.
The parliament of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea has voted in favor of the region becoming “part of the Russian Federation as its constituent territory” and rescheduled the All-Crimean referendum for March 16. According to Crimea’s First Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliev, as quoted by ITAR-TASS, the questions for the referendum have been changed to the following:
1. “Are you in favor of Crimea becoming a constituent territory of the Russian Federation?”
2. “Are you in favor of restoring Crimea’s 1992 constitution?”
The Crimean MPs also addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin, asking him to consider the decision of Crimeans should they vote in favor of joining Russia. Putin held an urgent Russian Security Council meeting on the issue, according to Interfax.
Meanwhile, the head of the Russian State Duma Committee for CIS Affairs, Leonid Slutsky, told ITAR-TASS the Russian parliament will hold debates on Crimea only after the referendum takes place.
Residents of Sevastopol, activists, self-defense squads have gathered near the Ukrainian Security Service building, according to ITAR-TASS news agency. The crowds were intending not to let in the newly-appointed head of the Security Service Mikhail Salva, “appointed by Kiev,” protesters say.
The Committee for Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications of the Russian State Duma has voiced concerns over the attempts of several Ukrainian providers to shut off the Russian channels in the country.
“This contradicts all the international agreements and is a direct attack on the interests of Russian-speaking people,” the head of the Committee Aleksey Mitrofanov said, as quoted by Interfax.
“It’s a clear information war, led by Western and Ukrainian media,” he added.
The head of Berkut special forces told RT that he was sure there was ”Some outside force, a third party involved in the provocations and in deaths on both sides” of the violent clashes in Kiev.
“At some point, we understood that it was no longer like the peaceful protests of 2004 and 2007. This time it was all about provocation, not only violent, but dirty tactics by the rioters. While we were unarmed - we didn’t even have non-lethal arms - the plan of those who masterminded this was to make the Berkut force crumble, to demoralize us and pressure us to switch sides, but that didn’t happen.
“And then came the worst: the shooting. Rounds were fired at both sides, but as I’ve already told you, we didn’t have any weapons. It was so difficult to understand what was happening, but officers just began falling to the ground, one by one. So it became clear: people were dying from bullets! But again, no shots could have been fired by Berkut forces. I’m sure there was some outside force, a third party involved in the provocations and in deaths on both sides. It was an organized team of professionals,” Yury Abisov, Crimean Berkut special police head, told RT.
Abisov’s interview follows a leaked phone call of Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet talking to the EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton and saying that “there is now stronger and stronger understanding that behind the snipers, it was not Yanukovich, but it was somebody from the new coalition.”
The EU has said that among 18 Ukrainians whose assets were frozen is the country's ousted President Viktor Yanukovich, AP reported. Also on the list, are Yanukovich’s closest aides: including a former interior minister, justice minister, the prosecutor general, the head of the security services, Yanukovich's son and others. Also on the list are former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov and his son. Earlier, the EU informed of the frozen assets, but didn’t name those targeted until early Thursday.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said a third envoy would be sent to Ukraine. The announcement came hours after UN emissary Robert Serry was forced to flee Crimea after being blocked in a coffe shop by a crowd of locals on Wednesday.
“I have decided to dispatch the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Mr. Ivan Simonovic, to Ukraine to visit Kiev and the eastern part of Ukraine, including Crimea, to see and monitor the human rights situation there,” Ban said.
Simonovic is expected to travel to Crimea over the weekend.
The proposal to the draft law of ‘Development and use of languages in Ukraine’ to include a point about a gradual transition from Cyrillic to Latin letters would not be right, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunya Miyatovich told RIA Novosti. Miyatovich noted that she is expressing her own opinion and that the matter is not within her mandate.
05 March 2014
Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko told AP that the West should deal directly with Russia and use "the most powerful tools” to force Russian troops out of Crimea.
Ruptly’s footage shows around 10,000 activists rallying in Kazan on Wednesday in support of Crimea, Ukraine. Demonstrators said they oppose “fascism” and want to maintain friendly ties between the people of Russia and Crimea.
The Organization for Security Co-Operation in Europe will be sending 40 unarmed military personnel from 21 member states to Ukraine. Their visit will begin in Odessa on March 5 and will last until March 12.
UPDATE: Total of 40 unarmed military personnel from 21 OSCE States being sent to Ukraine. Read earlier press release http://t.co/Uvg7lKLGOV
— OSCE (@OSCE) March 5, 2014
NATO’s decision to limit cooperation with Russia may have a “boomerang” effect, Russia’s permanent representative to NATO, Aleksandr Grushko, said. Earlier on Wednesday, NATO stated that it decided to suspend the first NATO-Russia training mission that involved escorting the American vessel Cape Ray, aboard which Syrian chemical weapons will be destroyed.
Grushko responded by saying that Russia is interdependent with Europe and Ukraine and that sanctions will make their way back and hurt those who imposed them.
Video footage from Ruptly news agency shows UN representative Robert Serry leaving a Simferopol coffee shop, which he entered on Wednesday while a crowd stood outside chanting "Russia, Russia."
After spending some time in the coffee shop, Serry left and headed to the airport.
US Secretary of State John Kerry stated that “intense discussions” with Russia and Ukraine would continue, with the hope of de-escalating tensions between the two countries.
“We initiated a process today that we hope will eventually lead to de-escalation," Kerry told reporters during a news briefing in Paris.
Kerry added that Russia’s violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty united the world in support of the Ukrainian people, while stressing that Ukraine’s territorial integrity must be restored and respected.
Protests will be held in several Russian cities on Thursday in support of people in Ukraine. Demonstrations are planned in Nizhny Novgorod, Saratov, Salekhard, Yekaterinburg, and Pyatigorsk.
United Nations special envoy Robert Serry is leaving the Crimean capital of Simferopol for Kiev, according to the United Nations press service.
Serry took a plane from Simferopol and will soon arrive in Kiev to continue his mission which was interrupted by the incident, said the statement.
According to the prime minister of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, the UN representative's visit wasn’t coordinated with Crimean authorities and they were not aware of his arrival.
The Prosecutor General's Office in Kiev has issued an arrest warrant for the head of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Aleksandr Vitko, according to acting Prosecutor General Oleg Makhnitsky, who was appointed by the coup-imposed Kiev government.
Vitko, a Russian citizen, is accused of “coup-provocation” and “organization of sabotage,” according to Makhnitsky.
Ukraine will not hand over the leader of far-right group Right Sector if Russia makes such a request because that would violate Ukrainian laws, the Prosecutor General's Office said in a statement.
Arrest warrants have been issued for the speaker of Crimean parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov, and Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov, according to the Prosecutor General's Office in Kiev.
“NATO has put the entire range of NATO-Russia cooperation under review. NATO foreign ministers will take decisions on this in early April,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at a press conference following the meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in Brussels.
Rasmussen also stated that “no staff-level civilian or military meetings with Russia will take place for now.”
“I have just chaired a frank and important meeting of the NATO-Russia Council to discuss the situation in Ukraine...I asked the Russian ambassador to convey NATO’s firm message to Moscow,” Rasmussen said.
The NATO chief admitted that NATO still wants “to keep the door open for political dialogue” with Russia.
“We are ready to maintain meetings of ambassadors in the NATO-Russia Council, as we have done today,” he stated.
#NATO decided today to put co-op w/ #Russia under review because of Russia’s actions in #Ukraine
— AndersFogh Rasmussen (@AndersFoghR) March 5, 2014
No staff-level civilian or military meetings w/ #Russia for now – decisions to be taken by #NATO#ForMin in April
— AndersFogh Rasmussen (@AndersFoghR) March 5, 2014
Russian FM Sergey Lavrov is to meet shortly with the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany and Poland who signed the February-21 agreement between the Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich and the opposition.
Earlier Lavrov held a meeting with the US secretary of State John Kerry on the situation in Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry have expressed assurances that both sides in the Ukrainian conflict should be helped to fulfill obligations under the February-21 agreement.“We have agreed that Ukrainians should be helped to fulfill obligations under the February-21 agreement,” Lavrov said.
"We had a meeting with John Kerry on the situation in Ukraine, regarding all actions that our partners are trying to take with the OSCE and Council Russia, NATO and other international organizations, activities that do not help creating an atmosphere of dialogue,” he said. “John Kerry acknowledged that a constructive environment should be created.”
The US has agreed that ultimatums and threats complicate the work aimed at the process of constructive dialogue and cooperation, Lavrov stressed.
They not always look in the same direction. Talks are there to negotiate a way out of the most difficult situations pic.twitter.com/nRS04FNjVQ
— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) March 5, 2014
Nearly 100 people waving Russian flags and chanting "Russia! Russia!" marched towards the building used by international observers in the autonomous Republic of Crimea, according to a Reuters photographer in the vicinity.
Special UN representative Robert Serry wasn’t "kidnapped" in Crimea, the United Nations Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson said. Earlier Ukraine's Foreign Ministry claimed that “armed men seized Serry in Ukraine's Crimea on Wednesday," according to Reuters.
“When Serry left the headquarters of the navy in Simferopol, his vehicle was blocked by unknown men, who said they had an order to take him to the airport,” Eliasson added.
According to the UN Deputy Secretary General, Serry got out of his car and called him, saying that he was neither threatened nor kidnapped.
Speaking to journalists, Eliasson said, “Serry even didn’t know which language the men were speaking.”
“It was a group of 10-15 people,” he added.
Serry then went into a local coffee shop, according to ITV News' correspondent James Mates, who accompanied him.
UN special envoy Robert Serry with me in coffee shop. Outside local militia block the door. #Ukrainepic.twitter.com/pbotNqCG3i
— James Mates (@jamesmatesitv) March 5, 2014
Outside the coffee shop a crowd of protesters gathered chanting "Russia! Russia!"
Mates further tweeted that Serry “agreed to end his mission in Crimea,” left the coffee shop and went to the airport.
Robert Serry has now agreed to go straight to the airport and end his mission in #Crimea
— James Mates (@jamesmatesitv) March 5, 2014
Robert Serry finally on his way to the airport, police having forced a way through an angry crowd. #crimea
— James Mates (@jamesmatesitv) March 5, 2014