10:42
13.3.2014
Revolutionaries in Kiev never once looted a bank branch or ATM. Today Crimea's leader seizes all of them. #Ukraine http://t.co/8GYyDBlCSC
â Simon Shuster (@shustry) March 13, 2014
10:41
13.3.2014
Here are some more details from our newsdesk regarding Angela Merkel's latest comments on Ukraine:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned Russia that it risks "massive" political and economic damage over its actions in Crimea.
Merkel told German lawmakers today that, "if Russia continues on its course of the past weeks, it will not only be a catastrophe for Ukraine" but would change the EU's relationship with Russia.
Crimea is occupied by Russian forces and a referendum planned for March 16 could see the peninsula annexed by Russia.
Merkel said Ukraine's territorial integrity is "not up for discussion" and that Russia's deployment of troops to Crimea is a clear breach of international law.
She said the EU is prepared to impose sanctions if Russia refuses to begin "negotiations that achieve results." (AP, Reuters, dpa)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned Russia that it risks "massive" political and economic damage over its actions in Crimea.
Merkel told German lawmakers today that, "if Russia continues on its course of the past weeks, it will not only be a catastrophe for Ukraine" but would change the EU's relationship with Russia.
Crimea is occupied by Russian forces and a referendum planned for March 16 could see the peninsula annexed by Russia.
Merkel said Ukraine's territorial integrity is "not up for discussion" and that Russia's deployment of troops to Crimea is a clear breach of international law.
She said the EU is prepared to impose sanctions if Russia refuses to begin "negotiations that achieve results." (AP, Reuters, dpa)
10:35
13.3.2014
Withdrawals limited to $33 MT @ChristopherJM Commercial banks in Crimea to be nationalized http://t.co/Jr7TcMEXfq pic.twitter.com/mHr4r6Dj3h
â max seddon (@maxseddon) March 13, 2014
09:30
13.3.2014
Meanwhile the Reuters news agency is quoting German Chancellor Angela Merkel as telling the Bundestag that Russia has exploited the weakness of Ukraine instead of acting as a partner for stability. She says "the territorial integrity of Ukraine cannot be called into question."
09:20
13.3.2014
This just in from RFE/RL's newsdesk:
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is due to address the UN Security Council on the crisis in Crimea today (8 p.m. CET), one day after receiving a strong show of support for Kyiv's new government from U.S. President Barack Obama.
Yatsenyuk is expected to reiterate to the Security Council that a referendum scheduled for March 16 in Crimea on the peninsula joining Russia is illegal under the country's constitution. He is also expected to reassert Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Yatsenyuk has warned that the Crimea crisis has implications beyond Ukraine, calling it a "global problem."
Meanwhile, Ukraine's parliament is meeting in Kyiv today to discuss a call from acting President Oleksandr Turchynov to create a 20,000-strong National Guard and for the mobilization of reserves and volunteers into the country's armed forces. (AFP, AP, and Reuters)
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is due to address the UN Security Council on the crisis in Crimea today (8 p.m. CET), one day after receiving a strong show of support for Kyiv's new government from U.S. President Barack Obama.
Yatsenyuk is expected to reiterate to the Security Council that a referendum scheduled for March 16 in Crimea on the peninsula joining Russia is illegal under the country's constitution. He is also expected to reassert Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Yatsenyuk has warned that the Crimea crisis has implications beyond Ukraine, calling it a "global problem."
Meanwhile, Ukraine's parliament is meeting in Kyiv today to discuss a call from acting President Oleksandr Turchynov to create a 20,000-strong National Guard and for the mobilization of reserves and volunteers into the country's armed forces. (AFP, AP, and Reuters)
21:10
12.3.2014
After meeting with John Kerry at the State Department, the two went to the White House for a meeting with President Barack Obama.
In a show of support, U.S. President Barack Obama met Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk at the White House on Wednesday.
Obama told the prime minister that Washington will stand with Ukraine in ensuring that its territorial integrity is maintained.
He said the West would be forced to "apply a cost" if Russian President Vladimir Putin did not to change course on Ukraine.
Yatsenyuk said his government will "never surrender" in its fight to protect Ukraine's sovereignty.
The meeting in the White House comes just days ahead of a referendum in Ukraine's Crimea, now occupied by Russian forces, on the region's joining Russia.
Obama said the United States would not recognize a referendum which he said would be illegal. But he said he hoped that last-ditch diplomatic efforts might lead to a "rethinking" of the planned vote.
On Wednesday, the United States and other members of the G7 group of advanced economies warned Russia that it risks facing international action unless it stops its moves towards the "annexation" of Crimea.
In a show of support, U.S. President Barack Obama met Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk at the White House on Wednesday.
Obama told the prime minister that Washington will stand with Ukraine in ensuring that its territorial integrity is maintained.
He said the West would be forced to "apply a cost" if Russian President Vladimir Putin did not to change course on Ukraine.
Yatsenyuk said his government will "never surrender" in its fight to protect Ukraine's sovereignty.
The meeting in the White House comes just days ahead of a referendum in Ukraine's Crimea, now occupied by Russian forces, on the region's joining Russia.
Obama said the United States would not recognize a referendum which he said would be illegal. But he said he hoped that last-ditch diplomatic efforts might lead to a "rethinking" of the planned vote.
On Wednesday, the United States and other members of the G7 group of advanced economies warned Russia that it risks facing international action unless it stops its moves towards the "annexation" of Crimea.
20:49
12.3.2014
This just in from RFE/RL's Tatar Bashkir Service:
MOSCOW -- Speaking to RFE/RL, the veteran leader of the Crimean Tatars, Mustafa Jemilev, says that, in a telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin on March 12, he told the Russian leader that a referendum on the status of Ukraine's Crimea is illegitimate and will be boycotted by Crimean Tatars.
He says he also told Putin that the secession of Crimea from Ukraine to join Russia would violate a 1994 international treaty in which Russia, Britain and the United States vowed to protect Ukraine's territorial integrity.
The March 16 referendum on Crimea's joining Russia was called by the pro-Russian authorities of the region, which is now under the control of Russian forces.
Jemilev, a former head of the Crimean Tatars' assembly, the Mejlis, and a Ukrainian lawmaker, was in Moscow on March 12 when he spoke to Putin, who was in Sochi.(with reporting by AFP, Reuters)
MOSCOW -- Speaking to RFE/RL, the veteran leader of the Crimean Tatars, Mustafa Jemilev, says that, in a telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin on March 12, he told the Russian leader that a referendum on the status of Ukraine's Crimea is illegitimate and will be boycotted by Crimean Tatars.
He says he also told Putin that the secession of Crimea from Ukraine to join Russia would violate a 1994 international treaty in which Russia, Britain and the United States vowed to protect Ukraine's territorial integrity.
The March 16 referendum on Crimea's joining Russia was called by the pro-Russian authorities of the region, which is now under the control of Russian forces.
Jemilev, a former head of the Crimean Tatars' assembly, the Mejlis, and a Ukrainian lawmaker, was in Moscow on March 12 when he spoke to Putin, who was in Sochi.(with reporting by AFP, Reuters)
20:27
12.3.2014
German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaking today at a news conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw about the Ukraine crisis.
"Almost a week ago we said if that wasn't successful within a few days we'd have to consider a second stage of sanctions. Six days have gone by since then and we have to recognize, even though we'll continue our efforts to form a contact group, that we haven't made any progress."
"We have agreed that the political element of an association agreement should be signed quickly and we will strive to be able to sign it by the next European summit."
20:23
12.3.2014
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaking today in Washington to members of the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee on Foreign Operations about his upcoming trip to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"[U.S.] President [Barack] Obama has asked me to leave tomorrow evening and fly to London to meet with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday, and I will do that. And we have had previous conversations, as you know, we spoke earlier this week. The president has talked several times to [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin. I will make clear again as I have throughout this crisis that while we respect, obviously, that Russia has deep historical, cultural, and other kinds of interests with respect to Ukraine and particularly Crimea, nothing justifies a military intervention that the world has witnessed.
"There are many other legitimate ways to address Russia's concerns and we are trying to make that very, very clear. In my discussions with Minister Lavrov I have made it clear that there are many reasons for Russia to choose a path of de-escalation and of political solution here. We believe that interests can be met, and that most importantly the desires of the people of Ukraine can be respected, and that the international law can be respected.
"We will offer certain choices to Foreign Minister Lavrov, and to President Putin through him, and to Russia with hopes, and I think the hopes of the world, that we will be able to find a way forward that diffuses this and finds a way to respect the integrity and sovereignty of the state of Ukraine."