Accessibility links

Breaking News
Ukrainian acting Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk (right) welcomes U.S. Vice President Joe Biden before their meeting in Kyiv today.
Ukrainian acting Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk (right) welcomes U.S. Vice President Joe Biden before their meeting in Kyiv today.

Live Blog: Ukraine In Crisis (Archive)

13:55 1.4.2014
13:54 1.4.2014
13:23 1.4.2014
The veteran leader of Crimean Tatars called on the UN Security Council to send peacekeeping forces to Crimea:
Mustafa Dzhemilev told VOA correspondents after an informal Security Council meeting on Crimea that the sanctions introduced against Russia by the United States and European Union are not sufficient to make Russia leave Crimea.

According to Dzhemilev, the insufficient pressure on Moscow over the annexation of Crimea might lead to bloodshed on the peninsula and Ukrainians' "rightful" demand to regain the status of a nuclear power.

Dzhemilev, a prominent former Soviet dissident, reiterated that Crimean Tatars see their future with Ukraine only.

The session was organized by Lithuania. Lithuania's deputy UN ambassador, Rita Kazragiene, said the meeting gave members their first opportunity to hear the Crimean Tatars' concerns about media impartiality and minority rights.

Russia boycotted the council session.
13:17 1.4.2014
And then on the Twitter feed of Shaun Walker, the Moscow correspondent for "The Guardian," some speculation on who could play who in a Truth About The Maidan film:

13:06 1.4.2014
13:00 1.4.2014
Rasmussen isn't mincing his words. No diplo-speak here:
"Unfortunately, I cannot confirm that Russia is withdrawing its troops. This is not what we are seeing. And this massive military build-up can in no way contribute to a de-escalation of the situation, a de-escalation that we all want to see."
12:58 1.4.2014
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said he had seen no evidence that Russia is withdrawing troops it had deployed along Ukraine's eastern border.
Rasmussen also said Russia had undermined the principles on which a NATO-Russia partnership had been built, and that as a result there could be no more "business as usual."

He was speaking ahead of a NATO foreign ministers' meeting to discuss Ukraine.

The NATO meeting in Brussels is the first since Russia's military occupation and annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.

Russia in the past month massed tens of thousands of troops on its border with Ukraine, raising concerns that after annexing Crimea it might invade other parts of Ukraine.

On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry said it was withdrawing a battalion that had ended drills near the border.
12:39 1.4.2014
12:04 1.4.2014
11:33 1.4.2014
Ukraine's parliament has approved conducting military exercises with NATO countries as Russia upper house of parliament voted to scrap Black Sea Fleet agreements with Ukraine. (From the wires)
The Verkhovna Rada voted 235 to 0 on Tuesday to approve holding a series of military exercises with NATO countries.

The drills would be conducted in southern and western Ukraine at some point between May and November.

Meanwhile, Russia's Federation Council voted Tuesday to terminate agreements with Ukraine on the Black Sea Fleet.

The Council voted unanimously Tuesday to annul the agreements. On Monday, Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma also unanimously approved the bill.

In 2010, Russia and Ukraine agreed to extend the lease of the fleet's base in the city of Sevastopol until 2042, under a deal that included an annual rent of $98 million and price discounts for Russian natural gas imports to Ukraine.

Load more

XS
SM
MD
LG