07:55
1.4.2014
From our news desk, the standoff in Kyiv with Right Sector has ended:
Ukraine's interior minister says radical nationalists have surrendered their weapons and left a Kyiv hotel.
Arsen Avakov wrote on his Facebook Tuesday that members of ultranationalist Right Sector movement left the Dnipro Hotel they had commandeered as their headquarters, got into buses and headed to a suburban camp.
Their departure followed a shooting spree in the capital, in which a Right Sector member shot and wounded three people, including a deputy mayor of the capital.
Earlier reports said Tuesday that police had detained a suspect in the shooting incident in the hotel located not far from the city's central Independence Square.
Right Sector played a key role in the ouster of Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych in late February but fell out with the new government following the killing of one of their leaders this month.
Arsen Avakov wrote on his Facebook Tuesday that members of ultranationalist Right Sector movement left the Dnipro Hotel they had commandeered as their headquarters, got into buses and headed to a suburban camp.
Their departure followed a shooting spree in the capital, in which a Right Sector member shot and wounded three people, including a deputy mayor of the capital.
Earlier reports said Tuesday that police had detained a suspect in the shooting incident in the hotel located not far from the city's central Independence Square.
Right Sector played a key role in the ouster of Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych in late February but fell out with the new government following the killing of one of their leaders this month.
08:05
1.4.2014
Right Sector forced to decamp fr nearby Dnipro Hotel after yesterday's incident that left 3 wounded. #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/l1u5FwK7vz
— Ukrainian Updates (@Ukroblogger) April 1, 2014
08:46
1.4.2014
Ukrainian MPs vote to disarm all protest groups in the country, from UNIAN and AP via our newsroom:
The decision, passed with 256 votes in favor, came after radical nationalists earlier Tuesday surrendered their weapons and left a Kyiv hotel. Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said members of ultranationalist Right Sector movement left the Dnipro Hotel they had commandeered as their headquarters, got into buses and headed to a suburban camp. Their departure followed a shooting spree in the capital in which a Right Sector member shot and wounded three people, including a deputy mayor of the capital. Earlier reports said Tuesday that police had detained a suspect in the shooting incident in the hotel located not far from the city's central Independence Square. Right Sector played a key role in the ouster of Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych in late February but fell out with the new government following the killing of one of their leaders last month.
09:05
1.4.2014
Via Russian agencies Interfax and ITAR-TASS:
Russia's State Duma is set to start debates on granting expedited citizenship to foreigners who are native Russian speakers. The amendments to the law on citizenship are scheduled to be discussed in their first reading on Tuesday. The draft amendments propose that native Russian speakers, regardless of their ethnicity, whose ancestors resided in Russia’s territories, as well as in the Russian Empire and in the Soviet Union, can obtained citizenship in a simplified way on the condition the applicants move to Russia for permanent residence and renounce citizenship of other countries. The applicants found by the Federal Migration Service commissions as native Russian speakers will become Russian citizens in three months avoiding mandatory staying in Russia for at least five years in order to be legitimate for the citizenship.
09:08
1.4.2014
Right Sector vacates Kyiv HQ in Dnipro Hotel earlier this morning, following shootout last night. pic.twitter.com/cxeN1alIxV Pic @ukranews_com
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) April 1, 2014
09:15
1.4.2014
Ahead of the the NATO foreign ministers' meeting later today, France, Germany, and Poland have held a pre-meeting.
The German, French, and Polish foreign ministers held talks in Germany on the crisis in Ukraine ahead of a NATO foreign ministerial meeting.
The meeting on Tuesday in Weimar is an attempt by Berlin to revive the Weimar Triangle, a grouping initiated after the collapse of communism in 1991.
The crisis surrounding antigovernment protests in Ukraine and Russia's seizure of the Crimean Peninsula has reinvigorated the group.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his French and Polish counterparts, Laurent Fabius and Radoslaw Sikorski, respectively, forged a deal in Kyiv in February between then-President Viktor Yanukovych and opposition leaders that ended days of deadly violence.
The Weimar Triangle ministers said in a joint statement Tuesday that NATO must "reassure the security of our allies."
The meeting on Tuesday in Weimar is an attempt by Berlin to revive the Weimar Triangle, a grouping initiated after the collapse of communism in 1991.
The crisis surrounding antigovernment protests in Ukraine and Russia's seizure of the Crimean Peninsula has reinvigorated the group.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his French and Polish counterparts, Laurent Fabius and Radoslaw Sikorski, respectively, forged a deal in Kyiv in February between then-President Viktor Yanukovych and opposition leaders that ended days of deadly violence.
The Weimar Triangle ministers said in a joint statement Tuesday that NATO must "reassure the security of our allies."
09:15
1.4.2014
#Yatsenyuk : Ukraine plans to modernize defense complex, develop military cooperation with West http://t.co/jtMqUIwvdf
— KyivPost (@KyivPost) April 1, 2014
09:33
1.4.2014
Ukraine's parliament has approved conducting military exercises with NATO countries as Russia upper house of parliament voted to scrap Black Sea Fleet agreements with Ukraine. (From the wires)
The Verkhovna Rada voted 235 to 0 on Tuesday to approve holding a series of military exercises with NATO countries.
The drills would be conducted in southern and western Ukraine at some point between May and November.
Meanwhile, Russia's Federation Council voted Tuesday to terminate agreements with Ukraine on the Black Sea Fleet.
The Council voted unanimously Tuesday to annul the agreements. On Monday, Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma also unanimously approved the bill.
In 2010, Russia and Ukraine agreed to extend the lease of the fleet's base in the city of Sevastopol until 2042, under a deal that included an annual rent of $98 million and price discounts for Russian natural gas imports to Ukraine.
The drills would be conducted in southern and western Ukraine at some point between May and November.
Meanwhile, Russia's Federation Council voted Tuesday to terminate agreements with Ukraine on the Black Sea Fleet.
The Council voted unanimously Tuesday to annul the agreements. On Monday, Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma also unanimously approved the bill.
In 2010, Russia and Ukraine agreed to extend the lease of the fleet's base in the city of Sevastopol until 2042, under a deal that included an annual rent of $98 million and price discounts for Russian natural gas imports to Ukraine.
10:04
1.4.2014
@JohnKerry en route to Brussels for @NATO meeting. Focus expected to be on #UnitedforUkraine
— Jen Psaki (@statedeptspox) April 1, 2014
10:39
1.4.2014
Reading Steinmeier's latest statements, hard not to conclude that he wants to scale down the Eastern Partnership and make it less ambitious.
— Uli Speck (@uli_speck) April 1, 2014