15:09
4.4.2014
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service spoke to shoppers in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv who are boycotting Russian products amid tensions over Moscow's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.
14:50
4.4.2014
European Union ministers say the bloc must stay ready to impose more sanctions against Russia over its seizure of Crimea, but now is not the time for further measures. Speaking at an informal EU foreign ministers meeting in Greece, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said “Europe must not relax.” He described the situation as still “very dangerous” because Russia continues to have thousands of troops near the Ukrainian border and has made only a “token,” or symbolic, withdrawal. However, Hague said it was not yet time for the EU to impose sanctions targeting Russia’s economy. Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans also said the situation remains tense, but cautioned against imposing new sanctions now. The EU and the United States last month imposed sanctions targeting Russian individuals over the Crimea annexation.
14:36
4.4.2014
Excellent AP article pointing out that Crimea residents will no longer be able to take advantage of Ukraine's significant advances in public health policy -- like methadone clinics, which helped turned around Ukraine's record-high HIV infection rates for the first time in 2012.
Across the Black Sea peninsula, some 800 heroin addicts and other needle-drug users take part in methadone programs — seen as an important part of efforts to curb HIV infections by taking the patients away from hypodermic needles that can spread the AIDS-causing virus.
But Russia, which annexed Crimea in mid-March following a referendum held in the wake of Ukraine's political upheavals, bans methadone, claiming most supplies end up on the criminal market. The ban could undermine years of efforts to reduce the spread of AIDS in Crimea; some 12,000 of the region's 2 million people are HIV-positive, a 2012 UNICEF survey found.
Russia's official advice to addicts? Quit cold turkey. (Russia's HIV rates went up 11 percent in 2013.)
Across the Black Sea peninsula, some 800 heroin addicts and other needle-drug users take part in methadone programs — seen as an important part of efforts to curb HIV infections by taking the patients away from hypodermic needles that can spread the AIDS-causing virus.
But Russia, which annexed Crimea in mid-March following a referendum held in the wake of Ukraine's political upheavals, bans methadone, claiming most supplies end up on the criminal market. The ban could undermine years of efforts to reduce the spread of AIDS in Crimea; some 12,000 of the region's 2 million people are HIV-positive, a 2012 UNICEF survey found.
Russia's official advice to addicts? Quit cold turkey. (Russia's HIV rates went up 11 percent in 2013.)
14:14
4.4.2014
Lesya Orobets, the Verkhovna Rada lawmaker who last week decamped from Yulia Tymoshenko's Batkivshchyna, has teamed up with the Democratic Alliance party to form an electoral bloc ahead of city elections in Kyiv.
Orobets, who is running for mayor against the likes of Vitali Klitschko, said today she wants to create a new political model in Kyiv that can serve as template for the rest of Ukraine.
"That's why I decided to join forces with the Democratic Alliance," she said. "They've been demonstrating new standards and approaches to politics for a long time."
Orobets is 31; the heads of Democratic Alliance, Vasyl Hatsko & Viktor Andrusiv, are 31 and 30. All three played an active role in the Euromaidan protests. During and since, Democratic Alliance has been harshly critical of "establishment" opposition figures like Klitschko and Batkivshchyna's own Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who they say have failed to represent, or even understand, the interests of the public.
Elections for mayor and the 120-seat Kyiv City Council will be held together with the presidential vote on May 25.
13:43
4.4.2014
Not before. Now.
13:39
4.4.2014
"All the major US and European indices are up this week. Moscow’s Micex index, which plunged after Putin’s invasion of Crimea in February, has been on a robust ascent for the last three weeks. The market’s ho-hum posture mirrors Moscow’s: there is some blood on the floor after Crimea, but let’s move on."
13:29
4.4.2014
Fast-food fans may be disturbed by the pictures coming out of Crimea today.
McDonald's has shuttered its three sites in Crimea, citing "manufacturing reasons beyond the company's control."
AFP notes the withdrawal "reflects a broader uncertainty among Western companies about their future" in Russia following the Kremlin's Crimean takeover.
Russian lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky has celebrated the closure and called for McDonald's to close Russia-wide. He referred to McDonald's food as "poisonous."
13:19
4.4.2014
Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak quotes British Foreign Secretary William Hague as telling journalists ahead of an EU foreign ministers' informal meeting in Athens today:
"It is important for us to continue to make it clear that what Russia has done in violating the independence and sovereignty of a neighboring nation state cannot be something that is accepted in Europe in the 21st century. So it is important for us to continue to discuss what we do in the future to reduce Europe's energy dependence on Russia, to make sure that we change balance of leverage between Russia and the EU in the future."
"The phase-two sanctions are important and I think have had some effect. Of course, there will always be a case for amending those or adding to those as the situation develops. I don't think you should expect a decision out of this meeting today about these things. This is of course not a meeting for detailed decisions. It is a meeting for extensive reflection on the situation and coordinating our strategies."
"This moment is not a moment for phase three of sanctions. But they have to be ready because the situation remains very dangerous, it remains very tense. There are very large numbers of Russian forces on the eastern border of Ukraine. Any withdrawal of those forces have been only been a token withdrawal so far. So the position remains as serious as before. We haven't seen real deescalation by Russia. Therefore Europe must not relax."
"The phase-two sanctions are important and I think have had some effect. Of course, there will always be a case for amending those or adding to those as the situation develops. I don't think you should expect a decision out of this meeting today about these things. This is of course not a meeting for detailed decisions. It is a meeting for extensive reflection on the situation and coordinating our strategies."
"This moment is not a moment for phase three of sanctions. But they have to be ready because the situation remains very dangerous, it remains very tense. There are very large numbers of Russian forces on the eastern border of Ukraine. Any withdrawal of those forces have been only been a token withdrawal so far. So the position remains as serious as before. We haven't seen real deescalation by Russia. Therefore Europe must not relax."
13:17
4.4.2014
Russian news agencies report that Belarus will take over this year's CIS chairmanship from Ukraine, which has refused to chair the organization. Belarusian Foreign Minister Uladzimer Makey said at a session of the CIS Foreign Ministers' Council in Moscow today that Belarus as new CIS chairman will support "strengthening of good neighborly relations within the CIS space." Sergei Lebedev, chairman of the CIS Executive Committee, told reporters after the foreign ministers' session in Moscow that the CIS foreign ministers had expressed hopes that Ukraine would remain a member of the organization.
13:06
4.4.2014