This just in from RFE/RL's Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak:
EU Adds Russians, Entities To Crimea Sanctions Over Siemens Case
BRUSSELS -- RFE/RL has learned that the European Union has added four Russian individuals and three Russian entities to its sanctions list after revelations that four gas turbines from the German company Siemens were "illegally" diverted from Russia to Ukraine's occupied Crimean Peninsula.
Sources in Brussels on July 26 told RFE/RL that EU ambassadors had backed a push by Germany for the additions to the EU's existing sanctions list.
Those sources told RFE/RL that the fresh sanctions will likely go into force next week.
The identities of the individuals and entities have not been released, but a person familiar with the matter told RFE/RL that they are likely to include Russian firms and corporate leaders responsible for transferring the Siemens turbines from Russia to Russia-occupied Crimea.
Crimea has been subjected to EU sanctions on energy technology since Russian military forces seized control of the Ukrainian region in March 2014 and the Kremlin staged a referendum that has been deemed as illegitimate by most countries in the world.
The EU has 150 people and 37 entities on a current sanctions list that has been in place since 2014.
That list was renewed in March 2017 for six months and is expected to be extended again in September.
Siemens has said the turbines were "illegally" diverted "against our will" to Crimea and that it was cutting some of its ties to Russia following revelations of the illegal shipments.
It said the turbines originally had been sold for use at the Taman power plant in southern Russia.
Siemens on July 21 said it would halt deliveries of power-generation equipment under its existing contracts with Russia's state-controlled entities "for the time being" in response to the revelations.
With reporting by AFP
We are now closing the live blog for today, but we'll be back again tomorrow morning to follow all the latest developments. Until then, you can keep up with all our other Ukraine coverage here.
Good morning. We'll start the live blog today with this update on Mikheil Saakashvili's situation:
Saakashvili May Be Forced To Seek Asylum In United States, Legislator Says
Mikheil Saakashvili, the former Georgian president and Ukrainian governor who was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship on July 26, may be forced to seek asylum in the United States, a Ukrainian legislator said.
Saakashvili said on Facebook that he was visiting the United States when Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stripped him of his citizenship, but he did not indicate whether he would seek to stay there.
The Ukrainian legislator from Poroshenko's faction in parliament, Serhiy Leshchenko, said on Facebook that if Saakashvili seeks to return to Ukraine, he would face extradition to Georgia to face charges for alleged crimes that occurred during his presidency.
Poroshenko had appointed Saakashvili, a reformist who became president of Georgia during the 2003 Rose Revolution but later fell out of favor, to be governor of the Odesa region in 2015. Poroshenko saw him at that time as an ally.
But Saakashvili resigned the post last year, complaining of official obstruction of his anticorruption efforts.
Saakashvili's supporters on July 26 called Poroshenko's action to strip Saakashvili of Ukrainian citizenship an "unconstitutional" reprisal for Saakashvili's criticisms.
Poroshenko offered no public explanation for the move, but Leshchenko said late on July 26 that the president's intention was to force Saakashvili to stay out of the country and seek refuge in the United States.
"Saakashvili cannot return to Ukraine even physically, as he will be detained at Boryspil [Airport] upon arrival and will be extradited to Georgia," Leshchenko said.
Since Saakashvili cannot return to Ukraine and is in danger of being extradited to Georgia, Poroshenko's decision was designed to force Saakashvili "to take an asylum in America and forget about Ukrainian politics," Leshchenko said.
The move derails any chance Saakashvili could seek office in Ukraine, though the party he formed is seeking early elections there. Under Ukrainian law, only Ukrainian citizens can lead political parties or be elected to parliament.
Other lawmakers in Poroshenko's bloc criticized the president's decision.
"Stripping Mikheil Saakashvili of Ukrainian citizenship is the most stupid thing that one could think up, a sign of weakness not befitting a president of Ukraine," said legislator Mustafa Nayyem.
"One may disagree with Mikheil, some may not like him, but overall Saakashvili is on our side of civilized barricades," he said."In the end, the winner in the squabble between the two presidents could be anyone, but not Ukraine."