09:54
19.3.2014
Kyiv is sending acting Ukrainian Defense Minister Ihor Tenyukh and First Deputy Prime Minister Vitaliy Yarema to Crimea in an effort to "resolve the situation" in Sevastopol, where pro-Moscow forces stormed Ukrainian navy headquarters and raised a Russian flag.
09:49
19.3.2014
Russia's Constitutional Court has ruled that the annexation of Crimea is legal.
The chairman of the court, Valery Zorkin, says the court had found the treaty governing "the accession of Ukraine's Crimea autonomous republic and the city of Sevastopol to Russia" to be in line with the Russian Constitution.
The chairman of the court, Valery Zorkin, says the court had found the treaty governing "the accession of Ukraine's Crimea autonomous republic and the city of Sevastopol to Russia" to be in line with the Russian Constitution.
08:41
19.3.2014
An EU spokesman has denied a Russian report claiming that European Council President Herman Van Rompuy had planned to meet with Vladimir Putin in Moscow today to discuss the Ukrainian crisis. Spokesman Preben Aamann said Van Rompuy would instead be preparing for a European Council meeting later in the week.
Russia's Foreign Ministry charged that the EU canceled the meeting because it refused to "hear the truth." The ministry alleged that Van Rompuy "was not allowed" to come to Russia "by his own people."
AFP quoted a diplomatic source as saying the trip was canceled because the Russians made it public.
The EU said on March 18 that it "does not and will not recognize the annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol to the Russian Federation."
Russia's Foreign Ministry charged that the EU canceled the meeting because it refused to "hear the truth." The ministry alleged that Van Rompuy "was not allowed" to come to Russia "by his own people."
AFP quoted a diplomatic source as saying the trip was canceled because the Russians made it public.
The EU said on March 18 that it "does not and will not recognize the annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol to the Russian Federation."
08:39
19.3.2014
Russian and international agencies quote a Ukrainian naval spokesman saying of the Sevastopol base incident that the Crimeans who stormed the facility -- including "self-defense" forces -- were unarmed. Ukrainian servicemen were said to be standing guard outside the main building. Representatives of the Crimeans were said to be in talks with the servicemen.
08:18
19.3.2014
No, I don't call Russian people victims to say we are helpless or blameless, only that we suffer from Putin. Russian apathy is huge problem.
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) March 19, 2014
08:10
19.3.2014
"New York Times" piece "Russia’s Aggression in Crimea Brings NATO Into Renewed Focus" argues that Crimea "has suddenly revived the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s central role as a counterweight to Moscow, and with it questions about the alliance’s options and ability to act."
Among other points author Steven Erlanger elucidates:
Among other points author Steven Erlanger elucidates:
As NATO’s long involvement in Afghanistan concludes, the renewed emphasis on Russia and Europe is also likely to delay the alliance’s efforts to turn itself into a global actor, able to deal with threats like terrorism and cyberwarfare. Those goals were supposed to be the focus of the next NATO summit meeting in September, in Wales.
A vital task for the Atlantic alliance now is to ensure that Article 5 — its commitment to collective defense — is seen to be firm and strengthened, said Ivo H. Daalder, a former American ambassador to NATO and now president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. That will mean additional deployments and exercises like November’s Steadfast Jazz, the first Article 5 exercise in more than a decade, which took place near Poland and the Baltics. Far more French troops took part than American ones, something that is likely to change for the next exercise, in 2015, scheduled to take place near the Iberian Peninsula.
A vital task for the Atlantic alliance now is to ensure that Article 5 — its commitment to collective defense — is seen to be firm and strengthened, said Ivo H. Daalder, a former American ambassador to NATO and now president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. That will mean additional deployments and exercises like November’s Steadfast Jazz, the first Article 5 exercise in more than a decade, which took place near Poland and the Baltics. Far more French troops took part than American ones, something that is likely to change for the next exercise, in 2015, scheduled to take place near the Iberian Peninsula.
08:05
19.3.2014
Today US VP Biden visits Vilnius for talks with Lithuanian and Latvian leaders. Saw Polish and Estonian leaders in Warsaw yesterday.
— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) March 19, 2014
08:04
19.3.2014
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service quotes a Ukrainian soldier suggesting about 200 "self-defense" forces were involved in the attack on the Sevastopol base and that troops loyal to Kyiv barricaded themselves indoors during the incident. The attackers were mostly masked but included women, Dmitry Tymchuk says. The information has not been confirmed.
07:52
19.3.2014
.@radiosvoboda journalist abducted, threatened, then released in Crimea http://t.co/iOkGGwPWJ8
— Russian Police Watch (@RusPoliceWatch) March 19, 2014
07:40
19.3.2014
Reports from Sevastopol say Crimean "self-defense" forces have stormed the Ukrainian Navy headquarters there and raised the Russian flag on the building. There were no reports of violence.