16:39
16.5.2014
From Reuters:
Russia is ready to discuss a gas price discount for Ukraine if Kiev pays off more than the $2.2 billion it owed as of April 1, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday, as both sides seemed to edge toward a potential compromise.
"We will discuss this (lowering the rate Russia charges Ukraine) if they pay even the debt owed on April 1, and this was $2.237 billion," Novak said. Russia said Kiev's debt to state-controlled Gazprom is now just over $3.5 billion.
"We will discuss this (lowering the rate Russia charges Ukraine) if they pay even the debt owed on April 1, and this was $2.237 billion," Novak said. Russia said Kiev's debt to state-controlled Gazprom is now just over $3.5 billion.
16:12
16.5.2014
From remarks by Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and Ukrainian acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya at their meeting today in Kyiv:
Sikorski: "I want to stress that Poland does not recognize illegal referendums: neither the Crimean one nor the one in Donbas. They are illegal, both from the point of view of Ukrainian law and international law."
Deshchytsya: "The Ukrainian government has enough authority to protect Polish-speaking people in Ukraine in case of Russian aggression, as well as Russian-speaking people in case what happened in Crimea happens again. So I don't think we need Russian protection in Ukraine to execute our own national policies."
Sikorski: "I want to stress that Poland does not recognize illegal referendums: neither the Crimean one nor the one in Donbas. They are illegal, both from the point of view of Ukrainian law and international law."
Deshchytsya: "The Ukrainian government has enough authority to protect Polish-speaking people in Ukraine in case of Russian aggression, as well as Russian-speaking people in case what happened in Crimea happens again. So I don't think we need Russian protection in Ukraine to execute our own national policies."
16:11
16.5.2014
Following the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' warning of "alarming deterioration" of the rights situation in eastern and southern Ukraine and annexed Crimea, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic told journalists in Kyiv today that "the human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine has been informed of 112 cases of unlawful detention, of which we are still concerned for the whereabouts and condition of 49 people that seem to still be detained. Such abuses clearly indicate the breakdown in law and order in this part of the country."
"The Human Rights monitoring mission has received information that about 250 people have been killed, including local residents, national security forces and armed groups. Any further arming of protesters and their transformation into paramilitary groups must immediately stop."
Via Reuters
"The Human Rights monitoring mission has received information that about 250 people have been killed, including local residents, national security forces and armed groups. Any further arming of protesters and their transformation into paramilitary groups must immediately stop."
Via Reuters
16:04
16.5.2014
There are reports quoting the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry as asking Moscow to suspend or otherwise avoid military exercises on May 25, when the country plans to hold its presidential election.
16:00
16.5.2014
Ukrainian authorities will hold a new round of roundtable talks aimed at de-escalating the crisis in the east on May 17 in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, according to the deputy speaker of Ukraine's parliament, Ruslan Koshulynskyi, according to UNIAN and Russian agencies.
Government officials, former leaders, and lawmakers participated in the first such talks -- in Kyiv on May 14, when there were no representatives present of the pro-Russian separatists. The government says the separatists must first lay down their arms before they can hold negotiations, while the separatists say they won't take part until the government withdraws its troops from eastern Ukraine.
The talks are part of an OSCE road map to de-escalate tensions ahead of Ukraine's May 25 presidential election.
Government officials, former leaders, and lawmakers participated in the first such talks -- in Kyiv on May 14, when there were no representatives present of the pro-Russian separatists. The government says the separatists must first lay down their arms before they can hold negotiations, while the separatists say they won't take part until the government withdraws its troops from eastern Ukraine.
The talks are part of an OSCE road map to de-escalate tensions ahead of Ukraine's May 25 presidential election.
15:57
16.5.2014
From our newsroom:
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on May 16 that no one can trust Russia's security guarantees anymore.
Rasmussen, speaking in Bucharest at a news conference with Romanian President Traian Basescu, said Russia in 1994 guranteed Ukraine's sovereignty when Kyiv renounced its Soviet-era nuclear arsenal.
Rasmussen added, "we can't trust such guarantees" after Russia's annexation of Crimea, which he called "a forceful landgrab."
On May 15, Russia said it would guarantee the security of Moldova, which borders both Romania and Ukraine, provided the ex-Soviet country remained neutral.
Rasmussen was in Bucharest to mark the 10th anniversary of Romania's becoming a NATO member.
He reaffirmed that Romania "does not stand alone" in the current crisis and said Bucharest was playing an "exceptional role" in Afghanistan.
Basescu said the Black Sea has become the "soft underbelly" of the alliance and that the presence of Russian troops in the region has upset the security balance.
Based on reporting by hotnews.ro and RFE/RL
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on May 16 that no one can trust Russia's security guarantees anymore.
Rasmussen, speaking in Bucharest at a news conference with Romanian President Traian Basescu, said Russia in 1994 guranteed Ukraine's sovereignty when Kyiv renounced its Soviet-era nuclear arsenal.
Rasmussen added, "we can't trust such guarantees" after Russia's annexation of Crimea, which he called "a forceful landgrab."
On May 15, Russia said it would guarantee the security of Moldova, which borders both Romania and Ukraine, provided the ex-Soviet country remained neutral.
Rasmussen was in Bucharest to mark the 10th anniversary of Romania's becoming a NATO member.
He reaffirmed that Romania "does not stand alone" in the current crisis and said Bucharest was playing an "exceptional role" in Afghanistan.
Basescu said the Black Sea has become the "soft underbelly" of the alliance and that the presence of Russian troops in the region has upset the security balance.
Based on reporting by hotnews.ro and RFE/RL
15:43
16.5.2014
The "Kyiv Post" offers a quality English-language translation of the poem slamming the notion of Russian-Ukrainian "brotherhood" that made 23-year-old Ukrainian-born Anastasiya Dmytruk a YouTube sensation after Russia's annexation of Crimea (the poem was written soon after the occupation began).
Here's the original video, which has now been viewed nearly 1.7 million times:
Here's the original video, which has now been viewed nearly 1.7 million times:
15:38
16.5.2014
15:14
16.5.2014
15:09
16.5.2014
Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian Foreign Ministry's special representative for human rights, democracy and the rule of law, has accused ODIHR and the OSCE's High Commissioner on National Minorities of "distorting the reality of the situation in Ukraine"...
..."ignoring evidence of de facto violations by Kyiv authorities"...
...including free expression to downplay extremism...
...and ignoring alleged "reprisals" by "Maidaners" against southeastern Ukrainians:
..."ignoring evidence of de facto violations by Kyiv authorities"...
...including free expression to downplay extremism...
...and ignoring alleged "reprisals" by "Maidaners" against southeastern Ukrainians: