23:19
18.3.2014
Barring major developments, this concludes our live blogging for March 18.
23:22
18.3.2014
With this exception from our News desk, via agencies:
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is urging an immediate resumption of "constructive dialogue" to resolve the crisis in Ukraine. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Ban has intensified his diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions and has had high-level contacts with all of the main parties involved. The UN Security Council has announced that it will hold a public meeting on Ukraine on March 19 to hear briefings by UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson and UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic on their recent visits to Ukraine.
On March 15, the eve of the Crimean referendum, Russia vetoed a U.S.-sponsored resolution that would have declared that vote illegal.
On March 15, the eve of the Crimean referendum, Russia vetoed a U.S.-sponsored resolution that would have declared that vote illegal.
08:07
19.3.2014
The prime minister of Japan, which had already rejected the legitimacy of the occupied-Crimea referendum on joining Russia, further condemns Moscow's actions, Reuters has reported.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a Japanese parliamentary committee on March 19 that Tokyo views Russian President Vladimir Putin's signing of a treaty to annex the Black Sea peninsula "as an action which violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine." With support reportedly mounting in the United States to suspend Russia's membership of the G8, Abe also said Japan will consult with its Group of Seven allies and look into taking further steps against Russia.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a Japanese parliamentary committee on March 19 that Tokyo views Russian President Vladimir Putin's signing of a treaty to annex the Black Sea peninsula "as an action which violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine." With support reportedly mounting in the United States to suspend Russia's membership of the G8, Abe also said Japan will consult with its Group of Seven allies and look into taking further steps against Russia.
08:40
19.3.2014
Reports from Sevastopol say Crimean "self-defense" forces have stormed the Ukrainian Navy headquarters there and raised the Russian flag on the building. There were no reports of violence.
08:52
19.3.2014
.@radiosvoboda journalist abducted, threatened, then released in Crimea http://t.co/iOkGGwPWJ8
— Russian Police Watch (@RusPoliceWatch) March 19, 2014
09:04
19.3.2014
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service quotes a Ukrainian soldier suggesting about 200 "self-defense" forces were involved in the attack on the Sevastopol base and that troops loyal to Kyiv barricaded themselves indoors during the incident. The attackers were mostly masked but included women, Dmitry Tymchuk says. The information has not been confirmed.
09:05
19.3.2014
Today US VP Biden visits Vilnius for talks with Lithuanian and Latvian leaders. Saw Polish and Estonian leaders in Warsaw yesterday.
— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) March 19, 2014
09:10
19.3.2014
"New York Times" piece "Russia’s Aggression in Crimea Brings NATO Into Renewed Focus" argues that Crimea "has suddenly revived the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s central role as a counterweight to Moscow, and with it questions about the alliance’s options and ability to act."
Among other points author Steven Erlanger elucidates:
Among other points author Steven Erlanger elucidates:
As NATO’s long involvement in Afghanistan concludes, the renewed emphasis on Russia and Europe is also likely to delay the alliance’s efforts to turn itself into a global actor, able to deal with threats like terrorism and cyberwarfare. Those goals were supposed to be the focus of the next NATO summit meeting in September, in Wales.
A vital task for the Atlantic alliance now is to ensure that Article 5 — its commitment to collective defense — is seen to be firm and strengthened, said Ivo H. Daalder, a former American ambassador to NATO and now president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. That will mean additional deployments and exercises like November’s Steadfast Jazz, the first Article 5 exercise in more than a decade, which took place near Poland and the Baltics. Far more French troops took part than American ones, something that is likely to change for the next exercise, in 2015, scheduled to take place near the Iberian Peninsula.
A vital task for the Atlantic alliance now is to ensure that Article 5 — its commitment to collective defense — is seen to be firm and strengthened, said Ivo H. Daalder, a former American ambassador to NATO and now president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. That will mean additional deployments and exercises like November’s Steadfast Jazz, the first Article 5 exercise in more than a decade, which took place near Poland and the Baltics. Far more French troops took part than American ones, something that is likely to change for the next exercise, in 2015, scheduled to take place near the Iberian Peninsula.
09:18
19.3.2014
No, I don't call Russian people victims to say we are helpless or blameless, only that we suffer from Putin. Russian apathy is huge problem.
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) March 19, 2014
09:39
19.3.2014
Russian and international agencies quote a Ukrainian naval spokesman saying of the Sevastopol base incident that the Crimeans who stormed the facility -- including "self-defense" forces -- were unarmed. Ukrainian servicemen were said to be standing guard outside the main building. Representatives of the Crimeans were said to be in talks with the servicemen.