20:29
24.3.2014
G7 leaders meeting in The Hague have changed the venue for their summit in June from Sochi to Brussels.
20:25
24.3.2014
U.S. State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf says:
"Obviously, we want to continue isolating Russia from the G8 -- [we] see no reason to meet the Russians in the context of the G8, given their current actions. And we'll be coordinating our actions within the G7, including sanctions and broader action against the Russian economy, should they continue to escalate."
20:24
24.3.2014
One suspects that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry might disagree with this characterization by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of their meeting in The Hague:
Here are more of Lavrov's quotes from the same press conference, via Reuters television:
On ousted President Viktor Yanukovych's agreement with the former Ukrainian opposition from February 21:
On international trust in Russia:
On Crimea:
On the G8:
On international recognition of Crimea's annexation:
"We mostly spoke about Ukraine. We emphasized once again the need to fully respect the results of the Crimean referendum. We spoke of the need to finally take a decisive action in order to prevent carousing of radicals and their infiltration into Ukraine's political life."
Here are more of Lavrov's quotes from the same press conference, via Reuters television:
"A wide-ranging constitutional reform -- and let me stress, with the participation of all regions -- must be launched [in Ukraine]. We cannot impose that on Ukrainian figures. Nevertheless, this is our assessment of the situation that has unfolded there. It will be very difficult to overcome a deep internal crisis in Ukraine without it. This is, by the way, what I told acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchitsya, who asked me for a meeting. We told him what steps, in our opinion, the leaders appointed by the [Ukrainian] Rada (parliament) ought to take in order to finally establish a proper pan-Ukrainian dialogue."
On ousted President Viktor Yanukovych's agreement with the former Ukrainian opposition from February 21:
"[U.S. State Secretary] John Kerry at least indicates some understanding of the need to encourage the implementation of the commitments listed in the agreement of February 21. Perhaps it will only be right for it to happen on the ground and for those who are currently in charge of the parliament and the cabinet [in Ukraine] to give it their utmost attention because by far not everything that was agreed upon has been implemented -- illegal armed groupings have not been disarmed, not all occupied buildings have been vacated, not all [Ukrainian] squares have been unblocked, etc."
On international trust in Russia:
"We are not forcing anyone to trust us. We have been trusting our Western partners for quite a long time -- since the desintegration of the Soviet Union, when all sorts of promises have been given to us both verbally and in written form, including political commitments on the highest level. Thus we have quite a good understanding of the value of promises from our Western partners."
On Crimea:
"What happened in Crimea does not have to do with our vicious intentions or things like that, but with with the need to defend Russians who live there and who have been living there for centuries."
On the G8:
"As to the G8, well, you see, G8 is an informal club. No one hands out membership IDs for it. No one can kick anyone out of it. It may be the case that G8 has already fulfilled its mission -- and this is exactly what many people think because since the creation of G20 it is precisely where all economic and financial issues are being discussed."
"If our Western partners consider the format [of G8] to be absolete, well, let it be then. As far as we are concerned, we are not clinging to this format and we do not consider it a big deal if it fails to come together. For the sake of experiment we can wait a year or two to see what life is like without it."
"If our Western partners consider the format [of G8] to be absolete, well, let it be then. As far as we are concerned, we are not clinging to this format and we do not consider it a big deal if it fails to come together. For the sake of experiment we can wait a year or two to see what life is like without it."
On international recognition of Crimea's annexation:
"No one is asking anyone of any recognition. We took our decision in accordance to our legislation, our constitution, and international law, including the UN Charter. As far as we are concerned -- and the people of Crimea, of course -- this decision has already come into force."
20:19
24.3.2014
G7 leaders have begun their crisis talks in The Hague on a response to Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said ahead of the meeting, "There is no G8, neither as a concrete summit meeting or even as a format for meetings."
Other leaders have already suggested a G8 meeting planned for June in Russia is off.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said ahead of the meeting, "There is no G8, neither as a concrete summit meeting or even as a format for meetings."
Other leaders have already suggested a G8 meeting planned for June in Russia is off.
20:15
24.3.2014
Russian agencies Inerfax and ITAR-TASS are reporting that Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov gave a press conference after his surprise meeting today with Ukrainian acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya and said President Vladimir Putin had instructed him to meet with Deshchytsya. Lavrov said he and Deshchytsya discussed "contemporary events and tasks, which, in our opinion, need to be considered in order to overcome the internal Ukrainian crisis."
19:14
24.3.2014
18:37
24.3.2014
18:35
24.3.2014
More vox pops from around our region. This time from the northern Kazakh city of Petropavl, also known by its Russian name of Petropavlovsk. Our Kazakh Service asked local residents if they thought Russia might attempt to absorb Kazakhstan's northern territories following the annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea.
18:24
24.3.2014
Nix future tense in previous update. Russian agencies say Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Deshchytsya have already met on the sidelines of the nuclear summit in The Hague. Details to follow.
17:48
24.3.2014
#Ukraine draft resolution to withdraw from CIS. http://t.co/rU5IFb7pPz
— Adin of Crimea (@RealCrimea) March 24, 2014