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A priest stands in front of a hospital destroyed after shelling between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in the eastern city of Donetsk, Ukraine, on January 19.
A priest stands in front of a hospital destroyed after shelling between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in the eastern city of Donetsk, Ukraine, on January 19.

Live Blog: Ukraine In Crisis (Archive)

Final Summary For January 20

-- A military spokesman says Ukrainian soldiers on January 20 came under attack from Russian regular forces in the north of the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine.

-- Germany's foreign minister says he and his counterparts from Ukraine, Russia, and France will meet on January 21 in Berlin in a bid to de-escalate the conflict in Ukraine.

-- The chief of Russian gas giant Gazprom says Ukraine's discount "winter price" for natural gas will end on April 1. Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller said in a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev that the price for Kyiv would be set in accordance with a long-standing contract, one Kyiv has long sought to change.

-- Russia says a European Union decision to keep sanctions against Russia in place shows the EU is not ready to change an "unfriendly course" toward Moscow. The EU's decision "only confirms the fact that the EU is still not ready to alter its unfriendly course or to give an objective assessment of the Kyiv authorities' actions," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

-- A Georgian man fighting on the Ukrainian side in the conflict in Ukraine has been killed in combat near the Donetsk airport, according to relatives. Media reports in Georgia quote members of Tamaz Sukhiashvili's family as saying he was killed in a battle near the bitterly contested airport on January 17.

-- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has expressed deep concern over what it says is the "escalation" of violence between government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine over the past two weeks. In a statement, the ICRC said the fighting in and around the city of Donetsk was killing civilians and "preventing" its team from carrying out its humanitarian work.

-- An explosion near a courthouse in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv has wounded 14 people, four of them seriously.

-- Russia says Kyiv is trying to solve the crisis in eastern Ukraine through military force and that could lead to "irreversible consequences for Ukrainian statehood." Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin spoke to Interfax news agency as Kyiv and Moscow accused each other of ignoring appeals for a cease-fire to be respected.

*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Kyiv

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Moscow warns Kyiv over use of force against separatists:

Russia says Kyiv is trying to solve the crisis in eastern Ukraine through military force and that could lead to "irreversible consequences for Ukrainian statehood."

Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin spoke to Interfax news agency on January 19 as Kyiv and Moscow accused each other of ignoring appeals for a cease-fire to be respected.

Ukraine's army said some 700 Russian troops had crossed into the country in the morning of January 19 to support pro-Russian separatists.

The allegation comes as Ukrainian government troops and pro-Russian separatist fighters are battling for the control of the bitterly contested Donetsk airport in eastern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military claimed Ukrainian troops had retaken almost all parts of the ruined airport lost to separatists in recent weeks.

But a separatist leader, Aleksandr Zakharchenko, said that "all the Ukrainian Army's attempts to take the airport...have failed." (Interfax, AFP, Reuters, and AP)

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A meat vendor counts Russian ruble banknotes at an open-air food fair in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia.
A meat vendor counts Russian ruble banknotes at an open-air food fair in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia.

Oil Price Plunge Drags Down Russian Economy: EBRD Bank

London, Jan 19, 2015 (AFP) -- Russia's battered economy will shrink by a far worse-than-expected 4.8 percent this year, as plunging oil prices add to fallout from the Ukraine crisis, the EBRD development bank forecast Monday.

The London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) sharply revised its September prediction for a 0.2-percent contraction for the economy of the key oil producer in 2015.

"A sharp fall in the price of oil has piled pressure on an already fragile Russia, and is hitting growth in energy exporters and other emerging nations with close links to eastern Europe's largest economy," the EBRD said in its economic outlook for the bank's investment zone.

Oil prices have slumped by almost 60 percent since June, hit hard by global oversupply, the strong dollar and weak crude demand arising from the stuttering world economy.

Russia's economy is also buckling under the weight of Western sanctions over the Kremlin's actions in Ukraine -- which remains plagued by unrest -- and tit-for-tat sanctions imposted on the West in response.

Russia has strongly denied sending weapons and troops into the war zone despite witness claims to the contrary.

At the same time, Russia's economy has been plagued by the tumbling value of its ruble currency, separate data showed Monday.

Net capital outflows from Russia more than doubled in 2014 to $151.5 billion, prompted by the Ukraine crisis and the plunging value of the ruble, according to statistics from the central bank.

Russia in 2013 had already seen its high level of capital flight, a recurring problem for the country, reach $61 billion.

The outflow was accelerated by the payment of debts owed abroad by Russian banks and companies, which have had their access to capital markets cut by sanctions.

The EBRD added Monday that Ukraine's shattered economy is predicted to shrink 5.0 percent this year, down from September's forecast for a contraction of 3.0 percent.

That followed a 7.5-percent collapse in Gross Domestic Product in 2014.

"The Ukrainian economy remains in a particularly precarious state," the London-based institution said.

"In addition to the impact of the conflict in the east of the country, there is currently uncertainty about the volume and timing of international financial assistance."

The EBRD, founded in 1991 to help ex-Soviet bloc countries such as Russia and Ukraine make the transition to free-market economies and democracy, added however that some nations would win a boost from the tumbling cost of crude.

The bank's investment zone -- comprising mainly former communist nations across central and eastern Europe but which now includes also Turkey and emerging economies in north Africa and the Middle East -- was expected to contract by an overall 0.3 percent in 2015.

That was a major downgrade from the prior forecast for 1.7-percent expansion in the operating region that comprises more than 30 countries.

"Even this forecast is subject to considerable risks," cautioned Hans Peter Lankes, the EBRD's acting chief economist.

Those risks included the impact of any further large falls in the oil price, a further escalation in the Ukraine/Russia crisis, and any potential increase in uncertainty in the eurozone, according to Lankes.

Plunging oil prices were however expected to boost countries in central and southeastern Europe and in the south and eastern Mediterranean region, offsetting weak demand arising from eurozone uncertainty, the bank added.

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