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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
10:32 18.3.2014
Just as Reshat Ametov is buried, another member of Crimea's Muslim community has disappeared. More details here:

10:47 18.3.2014
10:48 18.3.2014
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service has also been talking to people on the streets of Simferopol about the prospect of Crimea seceding from Ukraine:

'I Expect An Excellent Life' -- Crimeans On Joining Russia
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11:09 18.3.2014


How much will Crimea cost Russia? As much as 165.8 billion rubles ($4.5 billion) per year just in running expenses, according to Russian opposition party RPR-Parnas.



11:14 18.3.2014
President Vladimir Putin is addressing a special joint session of the Russian parliament on the Crimea issue.

So far, he's said that the Crimea referendum was democratic and in full accordance with international legal norms.

The outcome of the referendum is "more than convincing," he added.

Putin also says Russia respects all ethnic groups in Crimea. He says there will be three equal languages in Crimea -- Russian, Crimean Tatar, and Ukrainian.

More to follow...
11:18 18.3.2014
Putin is now saying that Crimea is an "inseparable" part of Russia and its loss was an "outrageous historical injustice."
11:21 18.3.2014
Putin describes Euromaidan protests as "terror, murder, pogroms" staged by "nationalists, neo-Nazis, Russophobes and anti-Semites."
11:22 18.3.2014
Putin: New Ukrainian government is illegitimate. "There is no one to talk with."
11:27 18.3.2014
Putin says Kosovo is "absolutely analogous" to Crimea and quotes the UN court ruling on Kosovo's self-determination.
11:36 18.3.2014
Putin accuses the West, led by the United States, of imposing its will on the world and thinking "they can only be right."

He says Russia is constantly being "driven into a corner" simply for its "independent position." He also praises China and India for their "understanding" of world affairs, for which he gets a round of applause.

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