13:39
3.6.2014
Interfax quotes a European Commission spokeswoman as saying the commission is pressing for a suspension of the South Stream pipeline:
By doubting the so-called Third Energy Package in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Russia undermines the basis of the EU-Russian working group formed in early 2014 on according issues related to the compliance of the South Stream project with the EU legislation, European Commission spokesperson Sabine Berger said on Tuesday.
Due to this the European Commission proposes to suspend the South Stream in the framework of its energy security strategy until it complies fully with the EU legislation and this project should be reconsidered amid energy security of the European Union, Berger said at a briefing in Brussels. The European Commission does not block South Stream but wants it to comply with the EU legislation, she said.
Due to this the European Commission proposes to suspend the South Stream in the framework of its energy security strategy until it complies fully with the EU legislation and this project should be reconsidered amid energy security of the European Union, Berger said at a briefing in Brussels. The European Commission does not block South Stream but wants it to comply with the EU legislation, she said.
The same Russian agency quoted Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller this morning as saying "no one can prohibit us from building South Stream, so construction will continue." Regulatory issues "appl[y] to the operation of the gas pipeline" not the construction, he added.
A portion of the planned pipeline runs through EU member states Bulgaria, Hungary, and Slovenia on its way to Italy.
13:35
3.6.2014
13:33
3.6.2014
Video shows a blast near a Ukrainian military helicopter, reportedly over Slovyansk area. The helicopter drops flares and leaves but appears undamaged.
13:30
3.6.2014
13:08
3.6.2014
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service spoke with Ukrainian Orthodox priest Ivan Katkalo, who told RFE/RL the local residents and armed men in Russian Cossack uniforms who seized his church in the village of Perevalne in Crimea threatened to kill him if he refused to leave.
13:02
3.6.2014
From our newsroom:
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says Russia's "irresponsible and illegal actions" in Ukraine represent a "serious challenge to a Europe whole, free, and at peace."
Rasmussen was speaking at the start of a two-day meeting of defense ministers from the alliance's 28 countries in Brussels to discuss whether to station permanent forces in the bloc’s easternmost states in response to Russia’s moves.
The NATO chief said Moscow's behavior shows that it "is ready to use force to redraw borders" and to destabilize sovereign nations in pursuit of its geopolitical goals.
He said Russia's actions "threaten the stability of the entire euro-Atlantic area" and called for a NATO that is "fitter, faster, and more flexible,"
Earlier on June 3, U.S. President Barack Obama, who is in Poland, proposed $1 billion to finance extra U.S. military deployments to Eastern Europe amid the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
Rasmussen was speaking at the start of a two-day meeting of defense ministers from the alliance's 28 countries in Brussels to discuss whether to station permanent forces in the bloc’s easternmost states in response to Russia’s moves.
The NATO chief said Moscow's behavior shows that it "is ready to use force to redraw borders" and to destabilize sovereign nations in pursuit of its geopolitical goals.
He said Russia's actions "threaten the stability of the entire euro-Atlantic area" and called for a NATO that is "fitter, faster, and more flexible,"
Earlier on June 3, U.S. President Barack Obama, who is in Poland, proposed $1 billion to finance extra U.S. military deployments to Eastern Europe amid the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
12:49
3.6.2014
12:46
3.6.2014
At his televised press conference, Obama says the world has learned from history that peoples' ability to make their own determination about their future is the cornerstone of European security, and that that is threatened by Russia's actions in Ukraine.
12:41
3.6.2014
U.S. President Barack Obama has announced that he will be asking Congress for $1 billion to finance an increased U.S. military presence in Eastern Europe in the wake of the Ukraine crisis. He said Russia needs to use its influence with Ukrainian separatists to get them to lay down their arms.
12:40
3.6.2014
Ukraine's acting President Oleksandr Turchynov speaking today in parliament, via Reuters:
"Yesterday forces of the antiterrorist operation destroyed terrorist checkpoints. Terrorist units were attacked -- so the attempt to destroy our border post located in the Luhansk suburbs was prevented."
"Early this morning, a lot of terrorists who were located in a hidden camp in the industrial area near the city of Severodonetsk were destroyed. Divisions of the antiterrorist operation are carrying out a set of active measures to free northern Donetsk."
"The aim of the antiterrorist operation is to stop terrorism, to stop the destruction of people, to stop soldiers of another country who are killing, torturing and raping. The aim of the operation is to stop this crime. This crime will be stopped, regardless of whatever and whoever is screaming and saying, no matter the threats being heard here from the podium or in the east of our border."
"Early this morning, a lot of terrorists who were located in a hidden camp in the industrial area near the city of Severodonetsk were destroyed. Divisions of the antiterrorist operation are carrying out a set of active measures to free northern Donetsk."
"The aim of the antiterrorist operation is to stop terrorism, to stop the destruction of people, to stop soldiers of another country who are killing, torturing and raping. The aim of the operation is to stop this crime. This crime will be stopped, regardless of whatever and whoever is screaming and saying, no matter the threats being heard here from the podium or in the east of our border."