09:40
20.3.2014
"Putin has no soul" - Heartrending interview with Khatidzhi, an elderly Crimean Tatar woman who returned to Crimea 23 years ago after her family was deported to Kazakhstan under Stalin. Courtesy of RFE/RL's Russian Service. (in Russian)
09:32
20.3.2014
This is just in from RFE/RL's Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak:
European Union leaders are opening a two-day summit in Brussels later this afternoon to agree on a response to Russia's annexation of Crimea.
It is expected that the leaders will decide to cancel an EU-Russia summit that was supposed to take place in June.
They may also add more people to a visa-ban and asset-freeze list that was announced on March 17.
The list currently consists of eight Crimeans and 13 lower-ranked Russian politicians and military officials.
There will also be talks about more hard-hitting economic sanctions and a weapons embargo, but sources in Brussels suggest the EU will only use these instruments if the situation in Ukraine worsens.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is due in Brussels tomorrow to sign the political part of an Association Agreement with the EU.
European Union leaders are opening a two-day summit in Brussels later this afternoon to agree on a response to Russia's annexation of Crimea.
It is expected that the leaders will decide to cancel an EU-Russia summit that was supposed to take place in June.
They may also add more people to a visa-ban and asset-freeze list that was announced on March 17.
The list currently consists of eight Crimeans and 13 lower-ranked Russian politicians and military officials.
There will also be talks about more hard-hitting economic sanctions and a weapons embargo, but sources in Brussels suggest the EU will only use these instruments if the situation in Ukraine worsens.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is due in Brussels tomorrow to sign the political part of an Association Agreement with the EU.
09:26
20.3.2014
This is just in from RFE/RL's Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak:
European Union leaders are opening a two-day summit in Brussels later this afternoon to agree on a response to Russia's annexation of Crimea.
It is expected that the leaders will decide to cancel an EU-Russia summit that was supposed to take place in June.
They may also add more people to a visa-ban and asset-freeze list that was announced on March 17.
The list currently consists of eight Crimeans and 13 lower-ranked Russian politicians and military officials.
There will also be talks about more hard-hitting economic sanctions and a weapons embargo, but sources in Brussels suggest the EU will only use these instruments if the situation in Ukraine worsens.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is due in Brussels tomorrow to sign the political part of an Association Agreement with the EU.
European Union leaders are opening a two-day summit in Brussels later this afternoon to agree on a response to Russia's annexation of Crimea.
It is expected that the leaders will decide to cancel an EU-Russia summit that was supposed to take place in June.
They may also add more people to a visa-ban and asset-freeze list that was announced on March 17.
The list currently consists of eight Crimeans and 13 lower-ranked Russian politicians and military officials.
There will also be talks about more hard-hitting economic sanctions and a weapons embargo, but sources in Brussels suggest the EU will only use these instruments if the situation in Ukraine worsens.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is due in Brussels tomorrow to sign the political part of an Association Agreement with the EU.
09:03
20.3.2014
Following Yulia Tymoshenko's return from hospital treatment yesterday, "The New York Times" has been taking a look at the role she might play in Ukraine's future:
She is both heroine and villain, an architect of Ukraine’s rotten politics and its victim, too, having spent two and a half years in prison on what are widely considered politically motivated charges of corruption brought by her nemesis, the ousted president, Viktor F. Yanukovych.
She is both heroine and villain, an architect of Ukraine’s rotten politics and its victim, too, having spent two and a half years in prison on what are widely considered politically motivated charges of corruption brought by her nemesis, the ousted president, Viktor F. Yanukovych.
08:53
20.3.2014
Deciding how to deal with Crimea's new status is a bit of a headache for mapmakers. Here's how National Geographic have addressed the issue:
The U.S. National Geographic Society says Crimea will be shaded in gray as an "Area of Special Status" on its maps once the territory has been formally annexed by Russia.
Simferopol, its administrative center, would be designated by a special symbol.
The American mapmaker said the decision was in line with its policy on contested territories.
It said its actions do not suggest recognition of the legitimacy of the situation.
Earlier, U.S. media quoted National Geographic officials as saying it would show Crimea as part of Russia once the Russian parliament ratifies legislation on the move.
The U.S. National Geographic Society says Crimea will be shaded in gray as an "Area of Special Status" on its maps once the territory has been formally annexed by Russia.
Simferopol, its administrative center, would be designated by a special symbol.
The American mapmaker said the decision was in line with its policy on contested territories.
It said its actions do not suggest recognition of the legitimacy of the situation.
Earlier, U.S. media quoted National Geographic officials as saying it would show Crimea as part of Russia once the Russian parliament ratifies legislation on the move.
08:34
20.3.2014
Bosnian Serb Chief Dodik Hails Crimea Secession From Ukraine: preparing for RS vote on secession w/Moscow support? http://t.co/d2swkQV5le
— Sabine Freizer Gunes (@SabineFreizer) March 20, 2014
08:18
20.3.2014
Russian doll "matryoshka": Crimea style masked version in unmarked military outfit pic.twitter.com/lQ9dk0Nm9H RT @harkusha18 via @pavelsheremet
— Ryskeldi Satke (@RyskeldiSatke) March 20, 2014
08:13
20.3.2014
Putin's approval rating rockets to 76% in week ending 15/16 March. Reckon we see 80% in next poll pic.twitter.com/TQyrc3f2uw
— Charlie Robertson (@RencapMan) March 20, 2014
08:10
20.3.2014
Prominent Russian opposition figure Aleksei Navalny has an interesting op-ed piece in "The New York Times" today. He says Russian President Vladimir Putin has "cynically raised nationalist fervor to a fever pitch" and that "imperialist annexation is a strategic choice to bolster his regime’s survival." Navalny also says "sanctions should primarily target Mr. Putin’s inner circle, the Kremlin mafia who pillage the nation’s wealth."
08:01
20.3.2014
Good morning. We'll open our live blog today with the latest update on the Crimean situation from RFE/RL's news desk:
Ukraine and Russia clashed at a UN Security Council meeting late last night over Moscow's annexation of Crimea.
Kyiv's ambassador to the UN, Yuriy Sergeyev, told the meeting on Ukraine that Russia's annexation of the peninsula was "illegitimate" and constituted a "violent dismembering" of Ukrainian territory.
Russia's UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said people in Crimea voted freely in a referendum to join Russia and that "a historic injustice had been righted caused by a pen stroke of former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev," who awarded Crimea to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1954.
UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic expressed concern over the security of Tatars and other ethnic minorities in Crimea, highlighting the disappearance of a Tatar activist after participating in a March 3 protest.
Simonovic said the activist was found dead March 16 and his body bore marks of "mistreatment."
Churkin dismissed Simonovic's assessment as "one-sided."
He also called Moscow's signing two days ago of annexation treaties with pro-Russian officials in Crimea "a truly historic event."
During the meeting, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, criticized Russia's "blatant disregard for global opinion and the legal rights of Ukraine."
It was the council's eighth meeting in three weeks on Ukraine.
Elsewhere, U.S. President Barack Obama has ruled out any American military action in Ukraine.
Speaking yesterday in an interview with California NBC television outlet KNSD, Obama said "we are not going to be getting into a military excursion in Ukraine."
But he said Washington would continue to apply diplomatic and economic pressure upon Moscow over its intervention in Ukraine
Obama said, "What we are going to do is mobilize all of our diplomatic resources to make sure that we've got a strong international coalition that sends a clear message,"
He said that Russia had violated another country's sovereignty by marching into the Ukrainian region of Crimea and "might is not right." (AFP, nbcsandiego.com, Reuters, AP, dpa)
Ukraine and Russia clashed at a UN Security Council meeting late last night over Moscow's annexation of Crimea.
Kyiv's ambassador to the UN, Yuriy Sergeyev, told the meeting on Ukraine that Russia's annexation of the peninsula was "illegitimate" and constituted a "violent dismembering" of Ukrainian territory.
Russia's UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said people in Crimea voted freely in a referendum to join Russia and that "a historic injustice had been righted caused by a pen stroke of former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev," who awarded Crimea to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1954.
UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic expressed concern over the security of Tatars and other ethnic minorities in Crimea, highlighting the disappearance of a Tatar activist after participating in a March 3 protest.
Simonovic said the activist was found dead March 16 and his body bore marks of "mistreatment."
Churkin dismissed Simonovic's assessment as "one-sided."
He also called Moscow's signing two days ago of annexation treaties with pro-Russian officials in Crimea "a truly historic event."
During the meeting, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, criticized Russia's "blatant disregard for global opinion and the legal rights of Ukraine."
It was the council's eighth meeting in three weeks on Ukraine.
Elsewhere, U.S. President Barack Obama has ruled out any American military action in Ukraine.
Speaking yesterday in an interview with California NBC television outlet KNSD, Obama said "we are not going to be getting into a military excursion in Ukraine."
But he said Washington would continue to apply diplomatic and economic pressure upon Moscow over its intervention in Ukraine
Obama said, "What we are going to do is mobilize all of our diplomatic resources to make sure that we've got a strong international coalition that sends a clear message,"
He said that Russia had violated another country's sovereignty by marching into the Ukrainian region of Crimea and "might is not right." (AFP, nbcsandiego.com, Reuters, AP, dpa)