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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.
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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
20:00 21.3.2014
In this week's "Power Vertical Podcast," host Brian Whitmore and his guests discuss whether Russia's annexation of Crimea won't turn out to be pivotal and historic in ways Russian President Vladimir Putin did not intend. In resetting Russia's domestic political agenda with a wave of anti-Western nationalism, he may have also unleashed forces he may not be able to control.

LISTEN IN: Tactical Victory. Strategic Defeat?
19:12 21.3.2014
Breaking news:

The Organization for Security and Cooperation In Europe (OSCE) has agreed that up to 500 OSCE civilian observers will be deployed to Ukraine for six months. OSCE member nations, including Russia, agreed to the move at a meeting Friday evening in Vienna. Russia had blocked earlier efforts by the OSCE to deploy observers. The mandate does not permit the observers to deploy to Crimea, which Russia annexed this week in the face of opposition from Western states, who say they still consider Crimea part of Ukraine. The mandate says the monitors will initially deploy to Kherson, Odesa, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk, Chernivtsi, and Luhansk, with a head office in Kyiv. The mandate says the mission will consist initially of 100 monitors, but could be expanded to 500 depending on developments.
18:54 21.3.2014
Who has the authority to impose sanctions? What role does the WTO play? Why hasn't Russian President Vladimir Putin been sanctioned?

RFE/RL's Rob Coalson explains some of the basics of international sanctions in his piece How The International Sanctions Game Is Played.
17:13 21.3.2014
More news on the post-Maidan corruption crackdown:

Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash has been released from detention after Austrian authorities say they verified that the 125 million euro ($172 million) bail he posted was not money obtained illegally. The 125 million euros is a record sum for bail in Austrian history. A Vienna court said Friday that Firtash was released after he pledged he would not leave Austria. The oligarch transferred money for bail earlier this week, but Austrian investigators wanted to check into the origins of the money before freeing him from detention. Firtash was arrested in Vienna on March 12 at the request of U.S. authorities. He has been under investigation in the United States since 2006 for bribery and forming a criminal organization. Firtash was a supporter of ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
16:48 21.3.2014
The Czech Republic is launching a new ad campaign to attract more foreign tourists. In Russia, the TV ads will seek to lure tourists with the "wide variety of spa and wellness activities." Interesting timing.
15:06 21.3.2014
More on Bakulin's arrest in this report by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service. Acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov says he will "react harshly and publicly against any attempt to exert pressure on the investigation."

14:42 21.3.2014
Naftogaz head Yevhen Bakulin has been detained for taking part in organized crimes causing at least $4 billion in damages to Ukraine.

14:11 21.3.2014
Femen-inspired protest against sanctions outside the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

14:07 21.3.2014
"Ukraine is returning to the European family," says Yulia Tymoshenko. "This is Maidan's second victory."

13:53 21.3.2014
RFE/RL's Russian Service report on creative anti-annexation protest.

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