07:57
4.4.2014
Via Reuters and AP:
Chancellor Angela Merkel immediately distanced herself from Schaeuble's comments, saying Russia’s annexation of Crimea was a "stand-alone" case and highlighting its illegality.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in early March suggested regarding the Crimea situation that "if this all sounds familiar, it's what Hitler did back in the '30s." She subsequently said she was not comparing Putin to Hitler but rather emphasizing that lessons can be applied from a tactic that has been used before.
Russian historian and political commentator Andrei Zubov in early May compared the deployment of Russian troops to Crimea to Nazi Germany's annexation of Austria, the Czechoslovak Sudetenland, and Lithuania's Memel Territory, adding that Putin had "lost his mind." RFE/RL spoke to Zubov about the topic HERE.
Russia has protested to Germany after German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble drew parallels between Moscow's annexation of Crimea and Nazi Germany's expansion. In a statement yesterday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said such comparisons were “unacceptable," adding that it had handed Germany's ambassador an official complaint over the matter. In an interview the same day, Schaeuble said: "I'm not so stupid that I would compare Hitler with anybody." He added that if he had actually made a mistake, he would apologize.
Chancellor Angela Merkel immediately distanced herself from Schaeuble's comments, saying Russia’s annexation of Crimea was a "stand-alone" case and highlighting its illegality.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in early March suggested regarding the Crimea situation that "if this all sounds familiar, it's what Hitler did back in the '30s." She subsequently said she was not comparing Putin to Hitler but rather emphasizing that lessons can be applied from a tactic that has been used before.
Russian historian and political commentator Andrei Zubov in early May compared the deployment of Russian troops to Crimea to Nazi Germany's annexation of Austria, the Czechoslovak Sudetenland, and Lithuania's Memel Territory, adding that Putin had "lost his mind." RFE/RL spoke to Zubov about the topic HERE.
21:30
3.4.2014
Barring major developments, this concludes our live blogging for April 3.
21:29
3.4.2014
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yatsenyuk calls the freshly imposed price for Russian gas "totally unacceptable."
20:58
3.4.2014
From our newsroom:
Russia's federal security service, the FSB, has confirmed it has arrested 25 Ukrainian citizens on suspicion of planning to launch a sabotage campaign. Ukraine's state security service, the SBU, has quickly responded, dismissing the accusation of sabotage as "nonsense." Russian statements have not made clear when the arrests were made. The announcement of the arrests came hours after the SBU accused FSB operatives of involvement in planning the crackdown on antigovernment protests in Kiyv that ousted Ukraine's pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in February. Earlier on Thursday, Russia's state-controlled NTV channel said those arrested included three activists from Right Sector, a Ukrainian nationalist group that played a role in Yanukovych's ouster. The broadcast said the suspects had instructions to take pictures of Russian military movements on the border with Ukraine.
20:47
3.4.2014
A former chairman of the Ukrainian Central Election Commission, Mikhaylo Ryabets, has warned that the elections planned for May 25 are at risk because the mandates of 11 of the 15 members of the current commission expire on June 1.
Here's the entire video interview with our Ukrainian Service (in Ukrainian):
Here's the entire video interview with our Ukrainian Service (in Ukrainian):
20:34
3.4.2014
"That kind of action taken coercively against Ukraine is something we oppose and we're working with our European partners to assist Ukraine in its efforts to deal with it." -- White House Press Secretary Jay Carney on Gazprom's gas-price hike to Ukraine
20:32
3.4.2014
"We expect Russia to go further in terms of pressure on the gas front, including limiting gas supplies to Ukraine." -- Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, in an interview with Reuters
19:20
3.4.2014
"Joining the European Union is like selling your soul to the devil."
This video vox pop provides sober insight into attitudes among residents of Moldova's breakaway Transdniester region toward that country's current pro-EU course:
This video vox pop provides sober insight into attitudes among residents of Moldova's breakaway Transdniester region toward that country's current pro-EU course:
18:49
3.4.2014
The UN's International Civil Aviation Organization has confirmed that air-traffic control over the Simferopol region is the responsibility of Ukraine. The statement, reported by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, follows a warning for civilian aircraft to avoid the area due to possible disputes or confusion over air-traffic control.
18:42
3.4.2014
The unrecognized annexation of Crimea by Russia has thrown a wrench into the process by which Ukrainian judges on the peninsula are paid, Ihor Samsin, head of the High Qualifications Commission of Judges of Ukraine, told our Ukrainian Service. Forty-six of 492 Ukrainian judges working in Crimea have requested transfers to mainland Ukraine, most of them citing a desire to be with their families.