The Russian Foreign Ministry says additional sanctions imposed by the European Union over Moscow's role in the Ukraine crisis threaten cooperation over security issues.
"The additional sanction list is direct evidence that the EU countries have set a course for fully phasing out cooperation with Russia over the issues of international and regional security. This includes the fight against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, organized crime, and other new challenges and dangers," a ministry statement said.
"We are sure the decisions will be greeted enthusiastically by international terrorists."
The mayor of Kremenchuk, an industrial hub on the Dnieper that's about 200 kilometers southeast of Kyiv, was shot and killed this morning. Kursk-born Oleh Babayev was an ethnic Azeri and ally of Yulia Tymoshenko. He was elected mayor in 2010.
From Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's "Washington Post" opinion piece.
As president, I have laid the groundwork for peace talks with the separatists by calling for dialogue along with guarantees of the rights of all Ukrainians. But these calls have been rejected, and Moscow continues to fan the conflict. It has always been my goal to bring together the parties and work out solutions for all Ukrainians regardless of geography, ethnicity or language.
To help achieve these solutions, the West should begin thinking about a larger response to what has happened. As always, the United States should take the lead. Working together with the European Union, Washington can shape a worldwide coalition of nations in support of Ukraine to ensure that these terrorists are not able to strike again.
On the ambush and assassination this morning of Kremenchuk Mayor Oleh Babayev:
In reference to the Kremenchuk mayor's slaying and the shelling of the home of Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovy: