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A woman carries a baby as she passes destroyed houses following what locals say was overnight shelling by Ukrainian forces in the eastern town of Slovyansk on June 9.
A woman carries a baby as she passes destroyed houses following what locals say was overnight shelling by Ukrainian forces in the eastern town of Slovyansk on June 9.

Live Blog: Crisis In Ukraine (Archive)

Summary for June 9

-- Ukraine's Foreign Ministry says that Moscow and Kyiv have reached a "mutual understanding" on key parts of a plan proposed by President Petro Poroshenko for ending violence in separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine.

-- Reports say up to 20 armed gunmen were trying to seize property from a factory (Topaz) that makes communications and electronic-warfare equipment in the Donetsk region.

-- A deputy foreign minister says Russia will consider any expansion of NATO forces near its borders a "demonstration of hostile intentions" and "take the necessary political and military-technological measures to support our security."

-- A two-man crew for Russian Zvezda TV arrived in Moscow after being released from detention in Ukraine.

-- Serbian officials say their own work on the Russian-backed South Stream gas pipeline will have to be suspended after Bulgaria stopped construction of its portion based on EU and U.S. concerns.

-- Ukrainian security forces are reportedly still battling pro-Russian separatists in the east near Slovyansk and Donetsk.

*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Kyiv
11:18 3.6.2014
Donetsk Mayor Oleksandr Lukyanchenko says there's been "a lot of traveling" but that probably "fewer than 10,000 people" have left the city -- then corrects up to "10,000 to 15,000 people," Hromadske TV reports. He notes that an evacuation of a city of 1 million people is unrealistic.
11:09 3.6.2014
U.S. President Barack Obama (right) is greeted by Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski upon his arrival in Warsaw this morning.
U.S. President Barack Obama (right) is greeted by Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski upon his arrival in Warsaw this morning.

From our newsroom, President Obama on the first stop of his European visit:
U.S. President Barack Obama, speaking in Warsaw, has said Washington's commitment to Poland's security, as well as to the security of its allies in Central and Eastern Europe, "is a cornerstore of our own security."

He called that commitment "sacrosanct," while noting that the crisis in Ukraine had necessitated an increased U.S. military presence in Poland.

Obama made his remarks shortly after arriving in the Polish capital at the start of a four-day European trip that also includes stops in Belgium and France.

He is due to hold talks on June 3 with Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski and Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Obama will also meet on June 4 with Central European leaders who are in Warsaw to mark the 25th anniversary of Poland's first postcommunist elections, including Ukraine's President-elect Petro Poroshenko.
11:06 3.6.2014
11:05 3.6.2014
11:05 3.6.2014
Ukraine News One assails Russian media reporting in "Russia's Fraudulent News Reports Exposed."
10:52 3.6.2014
Sounds suspiciously like Gazprom snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, suggesting earliest resumption of gas talks.
10:09 3.6.2014

Against the backdrop of mediated talks between Gazprom and Ukraine and a fresh megadeal to supply China with gas, Russia's state-owned gas giant says it expects to ship slightly less gas to European customers this year (158.4 bcm in 2014, down slightly from 161.5 bcm in 2013), according to Russian news agencies.

Gazprom also reported that the average price it charged customers in Europe and Turkey for gas in 2013 was some $387 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas. For customers in the CIS, the price was $272 per 1,000 cubic meters. Gazprom recently demanded that Ukraine pay some $485 per 1,000 cubic meters.
08:37 3.6.2014
Citing an ongoing counterterrorist operation with "a very intense exchange of fire," Ukrainian Interior Minister Arseniy Avakov has appealed on Facebook for residents of Slovyansk, Krasnyi Lyman, and Kramatorsk "to stay at home and don't approach the positions of concentration of terrorists."
08:22 3.6.2014

RFE/RL Washington correspondent Luke Johnson's piece from last night says that "Amid Shift From War, Obama Embraces Sanctions As Tool Of Foreign Policy."
21:58 2.6.2014
That concludes our live blogging for June 2. But you can still follow events in Ukraine and across RFE/RL's broadcast region HERE.

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