10:08
24.3.2014
Crimean PM Aksyonov announces Russian Federal Migration Service (FMS) will set up shop on the peninsula as early as May/June. Says that FMS is trying to catch its breath after receiving more than 20,000 applications for Russian passports. More than 2,500 have already received them, he adds.
Division FMS of Russia in the Crimea is scheduled to open in May-June 2014
- Sergey Aksenov (@ sergyaksenov) March 24, 2014
Подразделения ФМС России в Крыму планируется открыть в мае-июне 2014 г.
— Сергей Аксенов (@sergyaksenov) March 24, 2014
09:53
24.3.2014
!!! BREAKING NEWS !!!
Ukraine's acting President Oleksandr Turchnyov has given orders to the Defense Ministry to withdraw all Ukrainian military forces from Crimea.
He said the order was given due to what he called threats by the Russian military to the lives and health of Ukrainian servicemen and their families. (Reuters, AFP)
He said the order was given due to what he called threats by the Russian military to the lives and health of Ukrainian servicemen and their families. (Reuters, AFP)
08:52
24.3.2014
This short 1998 "New York Times" piece on the "father of containment" George F. Kennan has been doing the rounds on social media of late. It's easy to see why.
"I think the Russians will gradually react quite adversely (to NATO expanding) and it will affect their policies." http://t.co/P2hnVZlR5S
— Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) March 24, 2014
08:42
24.3.2014
As the West begins ratcheting up sanctions on Russia, Bloomberg is reporting that Moscow has hired Goldman Sachs to boost its image and encourage inward investment.
08:23
24.3.2014
Here's our newsdesk's overview of the latest diplomatic to-ing and fro-ing over the crisis in Ukraine:
Leaders of the G7 nations are meeting today to discuss what further measures to take after Russia's annexation of Crimea.
The G7 leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, will be meeting on the sidelines of a nuclear summit in the Netherlands.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are also expected to hold face-to-face talks on the Ukraine crisis on the sidelines of the nuclear summit in The Hague.
The United States and European Union have already imposed visa bans and asset freezes on some members of the inner circle of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said yesterday that the EU was united in its readiness to impose economic sanctions should the crisis escalate.
The G7 meeting comes a day after NATO’s top military commander, General Philip Breedlove, said Russian troops massed on Ukraine’s borders pose a threat to Moldova’s separatist Transdniester region.
"There is absolutely sufficient force postured on the eastern border of Ukraine to run to Transdniester, if the decision was made to do that. And that is very worrisome."
Breedlove accused Russia of acting more like an adversary than a partner.
"We think that what we see [is] a tool now of frozen of conflicts being used as a veto to EU and NATO membership," he said. "In other words, if Russia is worried about a country moving towards the West, the way to solve that is an incursion, a frozen conflict, and now no one wants to think about bringing nations aboard into NATO because it might mean conflict with Russia."
Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken told CNN yesterday that Russia's troop buildup might be aimed at intimidating Ukraine's new pro-Western leaders, although he added Russia could invade the country's mainly Russian-speaking east.
On the same day, Ukraine’s acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya told U.S. TV that the chances of war between his country and Russia are growing.
Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said Russia was complying with international agreements limiting the number of troops near its border with Ukraine.
Moscow's ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, told the BBC that Russia did not have "expansion views." (dpa, AFP, Reuters)
The G7 leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, will be meeting on the sidelines of a nuclear summit in the Netherlands.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are also expected to hold face-to-face talks on the Ukraine crisis on the sidelines of the nuclear summit in The Hague.
The United States and European Union have already imposed visa bans and asset freezes on some members of the inner circle of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said yesterday that the EU was united in its readiness to impose economic sanctions should the crisis escalate.
The G7 meeting comes a day after NATO’s top military commander, General Philip Breedlove, said Russian troops massed on Ukraine’s borders pose a threat to Moldova’s separatist Transdniester region.
"There is absolutely sufficient force postured on the eastern border of Ukraine to run to Transdniester, if the decision was made to do that. And that is very worrisome."
Breedlove accused Russia of acting more like an adversary than a partner.
"We think that what we see [is] a tool now of frozen of conflicts being used as a veto to EU and NATO membership," he said. "In other words, if Russia is worried about a country moving towards the West, the way to solve that is an incursion, a frozen conflict, and now no one wants to think about bringing nations aboard into NATO because it might mean conflict with Russia."
Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken told CNN yesterday that Russia's troop buildup might be aimed at intimidating Ukraine's new pro-Western leaders, although he added Russia could invade the country's mainly Russian-speaking east.
On the same day, Ukraine’s acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya told U.S. TV that the chances of war between his country and Russia are growing.
Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said Russia was complying with international agreements limiting the number of troops near its border with Ukraine.
Moscow's ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, told the BBC that Russia did not have "expansion views." (dpa, AFP, Reuters)
08:12
24.3.2014
Meanwhile, "The Daily Mail" has come up with its own inimitable take on the Transdniestrian leadership's desire to be taken under Russia's wing.
07:07
24.3.2014
Izvestia: Russia does not exclude ditching Visa & MasterCard, according to the head of Duma committee on financial markets
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) March 24, 2014
07:04
24.3.2014
A few more details are trickling in regarding the storming of the marine base in Feodosia:
Russian troops -- using stun grenades and firing automatic weapons -- forced their way inside a Ukrainian marine base in Feodosia early today.
There were no reports of injuries.
A Ukrainian military spokesman in Crimea, Vladislav Seleznyov, said the Feodosia compound is "full of Russian troops," who were assisted by helicopters and armored personnel carriers.
Seleznyov said on his Facebook page that Russian forces tied up the hands of an unknown number of Ukrainian marines, who were then transported off the base. (Reuters, AFP, BBC, Channel 5)
Russian troops -- using stun grenades and firing automatic weapons -- forced their way inside a Ukrainian marine base in Feodosia early today.
There were no reports of injuries.
A Ukrainian military spokesman in Crimea, Vladislav Seleznyov, said the Feodosia compound is "full of Russian troops," who were assisted by helicopters and armored personnel carriers.
Seleznyov said on his Facebook page that Russian forces tied up the hands of an unknown number of Ukrainian marines, who were then transported off the base. (Reuters, AFP, BBC, Channel 5)
06:54
24.3.2014
My latest -- Confronting Putin’s Russia http://t.co/JrFwWxRQBG
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) March 24, 2014