17:31
31.3.2014
"We have information that the Russian Federation is carrying out unfathomable maneuvers on the borders with Ukraine -- in some border places they are taking away troops, in others they are coming closer. Such actions cannot fail to cause concern, especially since we today do not have a clear explanation from the Russian Federation about the aims of these movements." -- Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Evhen Perebiynis via Reuters
17:12
31.3.2014
From the wires via our newsroom:
The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin has told German Chancellor Angela Merkel that Ukraine needs constitutional reforms to protect the interests of residents of the country's different regions. A statement on March 31 said the two leaders discussed by telephone "various aspects of the situation in Ukraine, including the possibilities of international assistance to restore stability.” A spokesman for Merkel said Putin had told the chancellor about a partial withdrawal of Russian troops who have been deployed on Russia's side of the Russia-Ukraine border. The spokesman added that the two leaders also talked about further steps to "stabilize" the situation in Ukraine and in Moldova's Russian-speaking separatist region of Transdniester. Putin has previously spoken of the need to protect the interests of ethnic Russians and Russian-speakers in Ukraine, predominantly in the east and south. Merkel has condemned Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula as a violation of international law.
17:01
31.3.2014
The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin has told German Chancellor Angela Merkel that measures are needed to remove what a statement described as the "blockade" on Moldova's breakaway Transdniester region.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland, in the Moldovan capital on March 30, pledged $10 million "to support Moldovan border security efforts...on top of money that we have been providing for a number of years to support nonproliferation objectives and security objectives on the borders."
"This is not a blockade by any means," Nuland added, saying that "commerce and trade is continuing..."
In a phone call to U.S. President Barack Obama on March 28, Putin reportedly suggested Transdniester's border was being blockaded by Ukraine or Moldova.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland, in the Moldovan capital on March 30, pledged $10 million "to support Moldovan border security efforts...on top of money that we have been providing for a number of years to support nonproliferation objectives and security objectives on the borders."
"This is not a blockade by any means," Nuland added, saying that "commerce and trade is continuing..."
In a phone call to U.S. President Barack Obama on March 28, Putin reportedly suggested Transdniester's border was being blockaded by Ukraine or Moldova.
16:46
31.3.2014
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has suggested Russia's public reasoning for its unrecognized annexation of Ukraine's Crimea are similar to arguments used by Hitler's Germany to annex a heavily ethnic German region of western Czechoslovakia in 1938.
The statement drew a quick response from Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said, "I regard the case of the annexation of Crimea as a stand-alone case" and a violation of international law, according to Reuters.
"We know all about that from history," Schaeuble told a group of students and added, "Those are the methods that Hitler used to take over the Sudetenland."
The statement drew a quick response from Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said, "I regard the case of the annexation of Crimea as a stand-alone case" and a violation of international law, according to Reuters.
16:35
31.3.2014
Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Filaret announces fundraising for the Ukrainian military (in Ukrainian):
16:22
31.3.2014
Ukraine's ultranationalist Right Sector movement has set up a recruitment center in the capital, Kyiv. One volunteer told RFE/RL he was joining the group because he didn't trust Ukrainian security services. But a leading political analyst says Right Sector's anti-Russian rhetoric and role as an armed group outside government control may be helping Moscow's propaganda campaign against Ukraine. (Video by Marija Arnautovic of RFE/RL's Balkan Service)
15:58
31.3.2014
U.S. Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan expresses support for #UnitedForUkraine:
15:30
31.3.2014
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service and other sources say Russia's lower house of parliament has given unanimous preliminary approval to a bill scrapping agreements with Ukraine on the Russian Black Sea Fleet's base in Crimea. The bill was in its first reading in the State Duma. In 2010, Russia and Ukraine agreed to extend the lease of the fleet's base in the city of Sevastopol until 2042, a deal that included an annual rent of $98 million and price discounts for Russian natural-gas imports to Ukraine. The Kremlin contends that since Crimea is no longer part of Ukraine following its annexation, there are no legal grounds for the treaties. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has suggested Russia will seek $11 billion in lost revenues from Kyiv over the gas discount.
14:54
31.3.2014
ITV: 'Darth Vader' makes #Ukraine presidency bid. http://t.co/NQf9WjWiIB pic.twitter.com/Yrq2m8RoEL
— Just Hovens Greve (@JustHovensGreve) March 31, 2014
14:10
31.3.2014
Some reax just in to Medvedev's Crimea visit:
Ukraine has denounced the visit of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to Crimea, describing it as a "crude violation of the rules of international behavior."
Foreign Ministry spokesman Evhen Perebiynis told journalists in Kyiv today that Ukraine sent a note to the Russian Federation expressing "a categorical protest" about the visit. (Reuters, AP, AFP)
Foreign Ministry spokesman Evhen Perebiynis told journalists in Kyiv today that Ukraine sent a note to the Russian Federation expressing "a categorical protest" about the visit. (Reuters, AP, AFP)