15:45
29.3.2014
From RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, a video (in Ukrainian) of servicemen and their families leaving Crimea.
15:47
29.3.2014
Video of Crimean Tatars discussing autonomy, from RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service:
15:49
29.3.2014
#Deschytsia states new government of #Ukraine has no intention to join #NATO http://t.co/6uiydxxJYA
— KyivPost (@KyivPost) March 29, 2014
15:49
29.3.2014
#Tymoshenko submits documents for registration as presidential candidate to CEC #Ukraine http://t.co/n0kPTGuDbZ
— KyivPost (@KyivPost) March 29, 2014
16:31
29.3.2014
From our news desk. Kerry's firming up plans for meeting with Lavrov.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has made a last-minute change of plans to fly to France for talks on Ukraine.
U.S. officials said Saturday that Kerry would meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Sunday evening in Paris to discuss the situation in Ukraine where Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula has led to a situation some officials have described as the biggest security problem in Europe since the Cold War.
The meeting comes after U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in a call on Friday to have their foreign ministers meet to discuss a possible diplomatic resolution to the Ukraine.
U.S. officials said Saturday that Kerry would meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Sunday evening in Paris to discuss the situation in Ukraine where Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula has led to a situation some officials have described as the biggest security problem in Europe since the Cold War.
The meeting comes after U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in a call on Friday to have their foreign ministers meet to discuss a possible diplomatic resolution to the Ukraine.
16:39
29.3.2014
Scary thought...
New president, old Rada. Potentially Moscow-1993 situation.
— Leonid Ragozin (@leonidragozin) March 29, 2014
17:00
29.3.2014
Just to clarify, it was U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki -- rather than "U.S. officials" as we had in our news short -- who said Kerry would meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday evening.
17:04
29.3.2014
Another pic of Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina in Kyiv:
Drie keer raden wie er ondertussen op de barricades in Kiev staan... pic.twitter.com/MCzyEQIdJl
— Olaf Koens (@obk) March 29, 2014
17:08
29.3.2014
Today, Yulia's Tymoshenko's Fatherland party nominated her to be the party's candidate for president in the May 25 presidential election.
She spoke today at Fatherland's party congress in Kyiv:
She also lashed out at Russian President Vladimir Putin:
She spoke today at Fatherland's party congress in Kyiv:
"I know that if we fail to give the instruments of daily control over the government and politics to the people we risk again sliding down the path where another revolution will be needed. I am your guarantee for that you will be given real rights, will be given a real influence over the government, will be given a real say over the formation of all strategies of the country without exception."
She also lashed out at Russian President Vladimir Putin:
"[Russian President Vladimir] Putin wants to punish us, Ukrainians, for our quest for freedom, for our European choice, for our courage to fight. Our response in Crimea, I think, has not been adequate. If you elect me to and entrust me with the post of President of Ukraine I will not give up a single centimeter of Ukrainian land to the aggressor without a fight."
17:12
29.3.2014
Here are some comments by Crimean Tatar leader Refat Chubarov speaking today (March 29) at a Crimean Tatar assembly in Bakhchisaray. The assembly voted in favor of seeking "ethnic and territorial autonomy" for Crimea's Tatars.
Refat Chubarov
"We are talking about the rights of the Crimean Tatar people to self-determination -- possibly all the way to national and social autonomy. We are addressing the governments of all countries with no exception. We are especially addressing the governments of those countries, which have areas within their federations whose borders are determined by the rights of ethnic majorities living in them."
"By adopting this document, we are announcing to all parties involved the commencement of political procedures to create national and territorial autonomy of the Crimean Tatar people on its historical territory in Crimea."
Refat Chubarov
"We are talking about the rights of the Crimean Tatar people to self-determination -- possibly all the way to national and social autonomy. We are addressing the governments of all countries with no exception. We are especially addressing the governments of those countries, which have areas within their federations whose borders are determined by the rights of ethnic majorities living in them."
"By adopting this document, we are announcing to all parties involved the commencement of political procedures to create national and territorial autonomy of the Crimean Tatar people on its historical territory in Crimea."