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Ukraine's acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya speaks to the UN General Assembly on March 27.
Ukraine's acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya speaks to the UN General Assembly on March 27.

Live Blog: UN Backs Ukraine Integrity

Final Summary For March 27

-- The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution that affirms Ukraine's territorial integrity.

-- The IMF has announced "a staff-level agreement" with Kyiv on assistance of $14 billion-$18 billion in conjunction with a reform program that will "unlock" up to $27 billion over the next two years, pending final approval next month. Tthe U.S. Congress has also passed an aid bill for Ukraine.

-- Ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko has announced plans to run for president.

-- Members of the Right Sector have been holding a demonstration outside the Ukrainian parliament building to vent their anger at the killing of prominent member Oleksander Muzychko earlier in the week.

-- Six Ukrainian military officers detained by pro-Russian troops in Crimea have been released, including Colonel Yuliy Mamchur, but five others are still being held captive.

-- Anonymous sources quoted by CNN say U.S. intelligence "concludes it is more likely than previously thought that Russian forces will enter eastern Ukraine."

-- U.S. President Barack Obama, in the keynote speech of his visit to Europe, chided Russia for its use of "brute force" in Ukraine and vowed that a determined alliance of the United States and Europe will prevail over time.


*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Kyiv
11:21 18.3.2014
Putin describes Euromaidan protests as "terror, murder, pogroms" staged by "nationalists, neo-Nazis, Russophobes and anti-Semites."
11:18 18.3.2014
Putin is now saying that Crimea is an "inseparable" part of Russia and its loss was an "outrageous historical injustice."
11:14 18.3.2014
President Vladimir Putin is addressing a special joint session of the Russian parliament on the Crimea issue.

So far, he's said that the Crimea referendum was democratic and in full accordance with international legal norms.

The outcome of the referendum is "more than convincing," he added.

Putin also says Russia respects all ethnic groups in Crimea. He says there will be three equal languages in Crimea -- Russian, Crimean Tatar, and Ukrainian.

More to follow...
11:09 18.3.2014


How much will Crimea cost Russia? As much as 165.8 billion rubles ($4.5 billion) per year just in running expenses, according to Russian opposition party RPR-Parnas.



10:48 18.3.2014
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service has also been talking to people on the streets of Simferopol about the prospect of Crimea seceding from Ukraine:

'I Expect An Excellent Life' -- Crimeans On Joining Russia
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10:47 18.3.2014
10:32 18.3.2014
Just as Reshat Ametov is buried, another member of Crimea's Muslim community has disappeared. More details here:

10:32 18.3.2014
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service has made this video of National Guard recruits undergoing training near Kyiv:

Ukrainian National Guard Recruits Undergo Training
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10:15 18.3.2014
According to French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, the Crimean conflict is "the most serious crisis since the end of the Cold War."

"If there are no longer any safe and recognized borders," he told Europe 1 radio today, "this means no country, no population is secure."

He says Russia has become "totally isolated."
10:15 18.3.2014
Arseniy Yatsenyuk has been clarifying the status of the Russian language in Ukraine:

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk says the Russian language has, in effect, official status and the same capabilities and rights as the Ukrainian language in the regions of Ukraine where Russian-speaking people predominate.

Addressing residents of Ukraine's southern and eastern regions today, Yastsenyuk said guarantees for the Russian language are outlined in Article 10 of the Ukrainian Constitution and were reaffirmed by acting President Oleksandr Turchynov recently.

He also said the issue of Ukraine's admission into NATO "is not on the agenda" but confirmed that Kyiv will sign the political part of an Association Agreement with the EU in Brussels on March 21.

But he said Ukraine does not regard relations with the EU and Russia according to the "all-or-none" principle. (ITAR-TASS, Interfax, and AFP)

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