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Ukraine's acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya speaks to the UN General Assembly on March 27.
Ukraine's acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya speaks to the UN General Assembly on March 27.

Live Blog: UN Backs Ukraine Integrity

Final Summary For March 27

-- The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution that affirms Ukraine's territorial integrity.

-- The IMF has announced "a staff-level agreement" with Kyiv on assistance of $14 billion-$18 billion in conjunction with a reform program that will "unlock" up to $27 billion over the next two years, pending final approval next month. Tthe U.S. Congress has also passed an aid bill for Ukraine.

-- Ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko has announced plans to run for president.

-- Members of the Right Sector have been holding a demonstration outside the Ukrainian parliament building to vent their anger at the killing of prominent member Oleksander Muzychko earlier in the week.

-- Six Ukrainian military officers detained by pro-Russian troops in Crimea have been released, including Colonel Yuliy Mamchur, but five others are still being held captive.

-- Anonymous sources quoted by CNN say U.S. intelligence "concludes it is more likely than previously thought that Russian forces will enter eastern Ukraine."

-- U.S. President Barack Obama, in the keynote speech of his visit to Europe, chided Russia for its use of "brute force" in Ukraine and vowed that a determined alliance of the United States and Europe will prevail over time.


*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Kyiv
11:29 15.3.2014
And here's a link to RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service live feed of a demonstration in SImferopol against the March 16 referendum
11:26 15.3.2014
Here's a link to RFE/RL's Russian Service live feed of the Peace March in Moscow.
11:24 15.3.2014
From the newswires:

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Poland and Lithuania amid rising tensions in nearby Ukraine.

The White House says Biden will depart on March 17.

Biden will meet with Poland's president and prime minister, plus the presidents of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. T

he White House says the leaders plan to discuss ways to support Ukraine's sovereignty.

They'll also discuss the defense commitments that NATO allies have to one another. (AP, AFP)
10:45 15.3.2014
10:30 15.3.2014
Here's an update on events in Kharkiv:

Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakhov has confirmed that two people were killed and several wounded in a shootout in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv late last night.

Avakhov wrote on his Facebook page Saturday that some 30 people "from both sides" were arrested overnight.

The identities of those killed were not given.

Avakhov added that a policeman had been "severely" injured and that weapons were seized. He said an investigation is under way. (AP, Interfax)
22:29 14.3.2014
This just in from the wires:

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will travel to Ukraine on March 22 to show support for Kyiv during the Crimean crisis.

Harper will meet with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and other members of the interim government.

Earlier today, Canada announced it will give nearly $200 million in aid to Ukraine.

Canada's Conservative government has already imposed a travel ban on the people it blames for the crisis and frozen the assets of those close to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

Canada has 1.2 million citizens who trace their ancestry to Ukraine. (AFP, Reuters)
22:26 14.3.2014
Economically, U.S. and European sanctions that weaken Russia would put China in a uniquely influential situation because it could benefit from sanction regimes that it is not taking part in.







RFE/RL's Ron Synovitz offers plenty of food for thought in his analysis on how the situation in Crimea could work to Beijing's advantage.
22:22 14.3.2014
Comparisons between the situation in Kosovo and Crimea are "a completely false and even phony argument.," says former U.S. diplomat Louis Sell. "The analogy with Kosovo really just doesn't hold water in almost every way, both legally and factually."

Read more here
22:20 14.3.2014
In this week's Power Vertical Podcast, Brian Whitmore and guests look at how the ongoing crisis in Crimea is changing -- perhaps fundamentally -- Russia's domestic political arrangements:

21:36 14.3.2014

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