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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
15:06 23.3.2014
This just in from RFE/RL's newsdesk:

Ukraine's acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya said in a U.S. television interview on March 23 that the chances of war between his country and Russia are growing.

Speaking on ABC-TV’s "This Week" program, Deshchytsya said: "We don't know what Putin has in his mind... That's why this situation is becoming even more explosive than it used to be a week ago."

The broadcast comes after Ukraine's acting President Oleksandr Turchynov demanded that Russia release the top Ukrainian military commander at the Belbek Air Force base near Sevastopol, who was "abducted" after it was stormed by Russian armored vehicles and troops yesterday. (Reuters, AP, AFP, ITAR-TASS, Interfax)
15:03 23.3.2014
Our Ukraine Service's coverage of pro-Russia rally in Simferopol in which participants say they want Viktor Yanukovych back as president.

14:36 23.3.2014
WATCH: Crimean Tatar leader Refat Chubarov expresses solidarity with the Maidan in Kyiv (in Russian):
14:28 23.3.2014
13:51 23.3.2014
Footage from early this month in Simferopol shows gun-toting Russian soldier kissing and hugging a child.

13:35 23.3.2014
Interfax quoting Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan as saying that it is "technically impossible" for natural-gas prices for Ukrainian consumers to be raised by April 1, and that it won't happen before May 1.

Earlier this week Prodan expressed concerns that Russian gas supplies would be reduced, prompting a hike in gas prices.

UPDATE: According to Kanal 5, Prodan has estimated that the price Ukraine pays for Russian gas in the second quarter of this year could be around $387 per 1,000 cubic meters.

The television channel reports that talks with Russia's Gazprom could take place as early as next week. Following the ouster of Viktor Yanukovych, Russia rescinded price discounts worked out in December under which Ukraine was to pay about $268 per 1,000 cubic meters.

Under the terms of the basing treaty that allowed the Russian Black Fleet to use the Crimean port of Sevastopol, Ukraine was able to shave off about $100 per 1,000 cubic meters.
13:28 23.3.2014
Interfax reports:

A decision on the withdrawal of some military units from Crimea will be made in the nearest future, Ukraine's acting defense minister Ihor Tenuykh told reporters on Sunday.

"A session was held and decisions were made on the withdrawal of some units, especially families. Decisions will be made in the nearest future," he said.
13:21 23.3.2014
12:58 23.3.2014
A billboard for Olympic Village Novogorsk, a luxury resort and residential complex being developed outside Moscow.

The billboard states: "For Some, A Peninsula. For Others -- A Whole Island."

12:13 23.3.2014

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