10:26
20.3.2014
This is just in from RFE/RL's Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak:
European Union leaders are opening a two-day summit in Brussels later this afternoon to agree on a response to Russia's annexation of Crimea.
It is expected that the leaders will decide to cancel an EU-Russia summit that was supposed to take place in June.
They may also add more people to a visa-ban and asset-freeze list that was announced on March 17.
The list currently consists of eight Crimeans and 13 lower-ranked Russian politicians and military officials.
There will also be talks about more hard-hitting economic sanctions and a weapons embargo, but sources in Brussels suggest the EU will only use these instruments if the situation in Ukraine worsens.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is due in Brussels tomorrow to sign the political part of an Association Agreement with the EU.
European Union leaders are opening a two-day summit in Brussels later this afternoon to agree on a response to Russia's annexation of Crimea.
It is expected that the leaders will decide to cancel an EU-Russia summit that was supposed to take place in June.
They may also add more people to a visa-ban and asset-freeze list that was announced on March 17.
The list currently consists of eight Crimeans and 13 lower-ranked Russian politicians and military officials.
There will also be talks about more hard-hitting economic sanctions and a weapons embargo, but sources in Brussels suggest the EU will only use these instruments if the situation in Ukraine worsens.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is due in Brussels tomorrow to sign the political part of an Association Agreement with the EU.
10:32
20.3.2014
This is just in from RFE/RL's Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak:
European Union leaders are opening a two-day summit in Brussels later this afternoon to agree on a response to Russia's annexation of Crimea.
It is expected that the leaders will decide to cancel an EU-Russia summit that was supposed to take place in June.
They may also add more people to a visa-ban and asset-freeze list that was announced on March 17.
The list currently consists of eight Crimeans and 13 lower-ranked Russian politicians and military officials.
There will also be talks about more hard-hitting economic sanctions and a weapons embargo, but sources in Brussels suggest the EU will only use these instruments if the situation in Ukraine worsens.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is due in Brussels tomorrow to sign the political part of an Association Agreement with the EU.
European Union leaders are opening a two-day summit in Brussels later this afternoon to agree on a response to Russia's annexation of Crimea.
It is expected that the leaders will decide to cancel an EU-Russia summit that was supposed to take place in June.
They may also add more people to a visa-ban and asset-freeze list that was announced on March 17.
The list currently consists of eight Crimeans and 13 lower-ranked Russian politicians and military officials.
There will also be talks about more hard-hitting economic sanctions and a weapons embargo, but sources in Brussels suggest the EU will only use these instruments if the situation in Ukraine worsens.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is due in Brussels tomorrow to sign the political part of an Association Agreement with the EU.
10:40
20.3.2014
"Putin has no soul" - Heartrending interview with Khatidzhi, an elderly Crimean Tatar woman who returned to Crimea 23 years ago after her family was deported to Kazakhstan under Stalin. Courtesy of RFE/RL's Russian Service. (in Russian)
10:47
20.3.2014
Here's another update from our newsdesk:
Russia's State Duma is holding a special session to ratify the agreement that makes Crimea a part of the Russian Federation.
Elsewhere, in a speech to parliament, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said EU leaders would signal their readiness to ramp up punitive measures against Russia, including economic sanctions today's summit.
She said the EU could introduce what she called "Phase-3 measures" if there is a "worsening" of the situation in Ukraine.
She added that current tensions with Moscow mean the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations does not effectively exist at present.
Russia's State Duma is holding a special session to ratify the agreement that makes Crimea a part of the Russian Federation.
Elsewhere, in a speech to parliament, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said EU leaders would signal their readiness to ramp up punitive measures against Russia, including economic sanctions today's summit.
She said the EU could introduce what she called "Phase-3 measures" if there is a "worsening" of the situation in Ukraine.
She added that current tensions with Moscow mean the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations does not effectively exist at present.
10:49
20.3.2014
Crimea has cancelled its spring military conscription into the Russian army. Crimea's acting military commissioner made the announcement today, one day after Crimean leader Sergei Aksyonov said local conscripts would start serving in the Russian army this spring, including in Chechnya and Dagestan.
10:58
20.3.2014
. @RFERL has learned that ystrday's reports that National Geographic will show Crimea as part of Russia on maps were not true. Story coming.
— Robert Coalson (@CoalsonR) March 20, 2014
10:59
20.3.2014
With Russia's annexation of Crimea, many eyes are now on Transdniester:
The Russian government is expected to discuss the situation in Moldova's breakaway region of Transdniester today.
Transdniester's leader, Yevgeny Shevchuk, meanwhile, has arrived in Moscow for consultations.
Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin said two days ago that ministers will discuss Transdniester's "economic isolation," which he said would deepen if Moldova signs an association and free-trade deal with the EU as expected in September.
Rogozin complained that Ukraine was blocking supplies from reaching Russian troops in Transdniester.
The mainly Russian-speaking Transdniester broke away in 1990 over fears Moldova would reunite with neighboring Romania.
Some 1,400 Russian troops are stationed in the region.
Moldova's President Nicolae Timofti has warned Russia against any move to annex Transdniester in the same way it took control of Ukraine's Crimea. (Interfax, RIA Novosti)
The Russian government is expected to discuss the situation in Moldova's breakaway region of Transdniester today.
Transdniester's leader, Yevgeny Shevchuk, meanwhile, has arrived in Moscow for consultations.
Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin said two days ago that ministers will discuss Transdniester's "economic isolation," which he said would deepen if Moldova signs an association and free-trade deal with the EU as expected in September.
Rogozin complained that Ukraine was blocking supplies from reaching Russian troops in Transdniester.
The mainly Russian-speaking Transdniester broke away in 1990 over fears Moldova would reunite with neighboring Romania.
Some 1,400 Russian troops are stationed in the region.
Moldova's President Nicolae Timofti has warned Russia against any move to annex Transdniester in the same way it took control of Ukraine's Crimea. (Interfax, RIA Novosti)
11:06
20.3.2014
Ukrainians overwhelmingly back introduction of visa regime with Russia in "Ukraiynska Pravda" poll.
Дякуємо всім за відповіді.про візи! більшість читачів висловились за візи. лише кілька людей були проти, але за вїзд по закордон паспортах
— Українська правда (@ukrpravda_news) March 20, 2014
11:19
20.3.2014
Patriarch Filaret, the leader of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church's Kyivan Patriarchate, says Putin has used "the methods of the devil" and violated three Commandments.
Патріарх Філарает: Путін використав засіб диявола http://t.co/KiSafEpAe1
— Українська правда (@ukrpravda_news) March 20, 2014
11:24
20.3.2014
Crimea-themed matryoshka dolls!
Brilliant. Russian Matryoshka dolls decked out as "unidentified self defense forces" in #Crimea pic.twitter.com/isdK6JNwNu h/t @astroehlein
— Lucy Kafanov (@LucyKafanov) March 20, 2014