-- Self-appointed leaders of the Ukrainian separatist region of Donetsk appealed to Russia to consider absorbing it to "restore historic justice" and to send in troops.
-- Pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk said they would not allow voting for the May 25 presidential election to be conducted.
-- Diplomats say the European Union agreed to impose sanctions against 13 additional individuals and two companies, believed to be the first time the EU has targeted companies over the Ukraine crisis.
-- Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov called the votes a "sham" and the United States said they were illegal and merely "an attempt to create further division and disorder in the country."
-- RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service said one of its affiliate radio stations in Donetsk was taken off the air by gunmen and replaced by a pro-Russian broadcaster.
-- The Kremlin said Ukrainian officials in Kyiv should hold talks with pro-Russian separatists on the results of the self-rule referendums, adding that it respected the "expression of the people's will."
EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Fuele was at RFE/RL's Prague headquarters today and spoke with correspondent Daisy Sindelar. Here are some choice pieces from that interview (report to be posted later):
"For any agreement to work, you have to have parties which are committed not only to finding the proper wording of that agreement, but also parties who are committed to the implementation of it. And if I look at the situation, it appears to me that the Russians from the very beginning thought that the Geneva agreement applies only to the Ukrainian government."
"The most worrisome development in Europe since the Second World War is that international law agreements, the principles like the Helsinki principles of 1975, do not have enough relevance anymore. That the power of who is more forceful is actually what matters. We had a two-polar world before, and the containment and the Iron Curtain. And we have a multipolar world now. What [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin has introduced a zero-polar world, where the only rule is that there are no rules. This is terrible."
"If we do not stand clearly and firmly and united against [the Russia propaganda war], the implications on our own countries is clear. Is it in the interest of Putin to have a strong European Union, expressing itself in one voice? No, it is not. And I see already a number of the populists and nationalists throughout the EU jumping on the Russian propaganda wagon, and I'm terrified about the possible consequences here."
"Our ultimate goal is that Russia talks to us and is part of finding a peaceful solution to that. And we have always been clear that the sanctions are not the end, or the purpose, of our policy. It's an instrument. It's an instrument to make our message clear at a time when Russia has ignored the previous messages, and it also should be clearly understood as an invitation that it's high time to sit together at the table and be serious about our continent."
"Where we failed, probably, is that we didn't take seriously the message the very same President Putin sent to us when he said a couple of years ago that the dissolution of the Soviet Union was the biggest catastrophe of the 20th century. Half of us laughed, half of us didn't understand what he was talking about. 2008 Bucharest NATO-Russia summit, I was in the room when President Putin said Ukraine was an artificial country. Again, half of us laughed, half of us did not understand. We do understand now. We're not laughing anymore."
"I'm sorry I have not been able to help the member states and partners to bring more clarity on the two most important questions. The first, for the member states -- are we serious and credible in what we offer and what we want to offer to our partners? And the question for the partners -- are we serious and credible in implementing the reforms which would bring us closer to the European Union?"
13:232.5.2014
Here's a short Reuters video showing angry locals in the eastern Ukrainian village of Andriivka confronting Ukrainian security forces earlier today:
Here's a video of the violence in Odesa, where pro-Russian militants have attacked a Ukrainian-unity demonstration:
13:412.5.2014
Here is the money quote from earlier in the day from Russian presidential press spokesman Dmitry Peskov:
"At present, we can regrettably say that those actions by the Kyiv authorities crossed out all Geneva agreements. At present, we can hardly count on even partial fulfilment of those agreements, but nevertheless, Russia continued to take consistent efforts to de-escalate. We appeal to the European capitals, to the United States of America, to give appropriate assessment of what is happening, and of course we call on those who are using this aviation against towns and villages."
13:432.5.2014
Violence in Odesa escalating rapidly. Watch the live stream here.
13:452.5.2014
Reuters now reporting that Russia has called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to discuss the situation around Slovyansk.
13:562.5.2014
A pro-Kyiv activist in Slovyansk, who asked not to be identified, tells RFE/RL's Ukraine Service:
"If you are in some way connected to Ukraine, people can suffer because of that. If in the past we could go out with an Ukrainian flag and hold a rally, now this is impossible. You can even be shot down for that."
