14:41
29.3.2014
#Yatsenyuk says #Ukraine ready for public talks with #Russia. Start of peaceful accord, let's hope - http://t.co/KygUCHx2xN
— GrahamWPhillips (@BritinUkraine) March 29, 2014
14:42
29.3.2014
Kremlin.ru stresses at length that #Putin during call with Obama expressed concern over situation in #Transnistria
— MareikeAden (@MareikeAden) March 29, 2014
14:53
29.3.2014
More from our news desk on Ukrainian acting President Oleksandr Turchynov meeting in Belarus with President Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
The Belarusian president's office said the two met at Lukashenka's residence in the village of Lyaskovichi, near the Ukrainian border.
The statement did not provide any further details.
Lukashenka said Friday in an interview on Ukrainian TV that he planned to meeting with Turchynov in the near future.
Lukashenka said in the interview "we are neighbors" and "the most important thing is the people of Ukraine and the people of Belarus."
He added, "One has to speak to the devil if necessary to prevent things from getting worse."
Belarus was one of 11 countries, along with Russia, that on Thursday voted against a non-binding UN General Assembly resolution condemning Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula earlier this month.
The statement did not provide any further details.
Lukashenka said Friday in an interview on Ukrainian TV that he planned to meeting with Turchynov in the near future.
Lukashenka said in the interview "we are neighbors" and "the most important thing is the people of Ukraine and the people of Belarus."
He added, "One has to speak to the devil if necessary to prevent things from getting worse."
Belarus was one of 11 countries, along with Russia, that on Thursday voted against a non-binding UN General Assembly resolution condemning Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula earlier this month.
14:55
29.3.2014
How much of a cost are sanctions imposing on Russia? "The New York Times" reports: "Crimea Crisis Has Little Impact Thus Far on Russian Oil Deals."
In other signs Russian and Western businesses are quietly reaching rapprochements even as their governments wield threats, the board of Aeroflot, Russia’s national airline, on Friday approved the purchase of 13 new Airbus A320 airplanes.
And this month, a delegation of the American company Boeing visited a major Russian titanium parts supplier, VSMPO-Avisma.
The limited economic sanctions imposed by the European Union because of Moscow’s annexation of Crimea do not cover Russian oil companies. President Obama has approved but not put into effect sanctions aimed at sectors of Russia’s economy that include those petroleum companies.
James Henderson, senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute of Energy Studies, said it was unlikely that the current breakdown in relations between Russia and the West would be sufficient to derail the Total-Lukoil talks....
James Henderson, senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute of Energy Studies, said it was unlikely that the current breakdown in relations between Russia and the West would be sufficient to derail the Total-Lukoil talks....
In other signs Russian and Western businesses are quietly reaching rapprochements even as their governments wield threats, the board of Aeroflot, Russia’s national airline, on Friday approved the purchase of 13 new Airbus A320 airplanes.
And this month, a delegation of the American company Boeing visited a major Russian titanium parts supplier, VSMPO-Avisma.
14:58
29.3.2014
From "The Guardian": How Vladimir Putin's Actions In Crimea Changed The World
"Disarmament is on hold, Nato has renewed its sense of purpose, Belarus is flirting with the west and 'irredentism' is back in vogue"
15:03
29.3.2014
Meanwhile, the Baltics mark a decade in NATO. Via AFP:
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on Saturday marked a decade since joining NATO just as rising concerns over Russia's territorial ambitions in eastern Europe have reinforced the importance of the Western military alliance.
Two US fighter jets roared across sunny skies in Lithuania as President Dalia Grybauskaite hailed NATO membership as "vitally important" to Baltic security.
"Our expectations about Lithuania's security have been fulfilled. NATO partners have demonstrated that we do not face threats alone," she said.
The three Baltic countries of 6.3 million people were under Moscow's thumb before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and Russian action against Ukraine has rattled nerves in the region.
"We would be a grey zone if we did not join NATO, that would be a danger," pensioner Antanas Spundys told AFP as he watched the fly-over.
NATO began an air policing mission over the Baltic states when the trio joined the alliance on March 29, 2004, in a move seen as a bulwark against unwanted Russian overtures.
The United States sent six extra F-15 fighters to boost Baltic air patrols this month, bringing their total to 10 aircraft.
Washington also said it was considering rotating troops in the Baltic region, while Britain, France and Denmark also pledged more warplanes.
Two US fighter jets roared across sunny skies in Lithuania as President Dalia Grybauskaite hailed NATO membership as "vitally important" to Baltic security.
"Our expectations about Lithuania's security have been fulfilled. NATO partners have demonstrated that we do not face threats alone," she said.
The three Baltic countries of 6.3 million people were under Moscow's thumb before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and Russian action against Ukraine has rattled nerves in the region.
"We would be a grey zone if we did not join NATO, that would be a danger," pensioner Antanas Spundys told AFP as he watched the fly-over.
NATO began an air policing mission over the Baltic states when the trio joined the alliance on March 29, 2004, in a move seen as a bulwark against unwanted Russian overtures.
The United States sent six extra F-15 fighters to boost Baltic air patrols this month, bringing their total to 10 aircraft.
Washington also said it was considering rotating troops in the Baltic region, while Britain, France and Denmark also pledged more warplanes.
15:08
29.3.2014
In an Op-Ed for "The Washington Post," Estonian President Toomas Hendrick Ilves writes that the West needs a new playbook for dealing with Russia:
Russia’s aggression in Ukraine marks a paradigm shift, the end of trust in the post-Cold War order. This order, based on respect for territorial sovereignty, the integrity and inviolability of borders and a belief that relations can be built on common values, has collapsed. International treaties no longer hold, and the use of raw force is again legitimate. In its annexation of Crimea, Russia has thrown the rulebook out the window. The world is back in a zero-sum paradigm. This is not about only Crimea or relations between Ukraine and Russia. The shift has changed the assumptions underlying European security and dealings between democratic states and Russia.
15:10
29.3.2014
Lukashenko tells Turchinov that "a third country will never be allowed to threaten Ukraine from Belorus" Ukraine's new best friend
— bruce springnote (@BSpringnote) March 29, 2014
15:27
29.3.2014
Channel 5 has video of Turchynov-Lukashenka meeting:
15:39
29.3.2014
March 30, 2 p.m., the global protest 'We Want Peace. Russia, Stop!' in the central square of your city! If you... http://t.co/5TvBWa1nmU
— English EuroMaidan (@EuroMaidanEN) March 29, 2014