10:58
1.4.2014
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said he had seen no evidence that Russia is withdrawing troops it had deployed along Ukraine's eastern border.
Rasmussen also said Russia had undermined the principles on which a NATO-Russia partnership had been built, and that as a result there could be no more "business as usual."
He was speaking ahead of a NATO foreign ministers' meeting to discuss Ukraine.
The NATO meeting in Brussels is the first since Russia's military occupation and annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.
Russia in the past month massed tens of thousands of troops on its border with Ukraine, raising concerns that after annexing Crimea it might invade other parts of Ukraine.
On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry said it was withdrawing a battalion that had ended drills near the border.
He was speaking ahead of a NATO foreign ministers' meeting to discuss Ukraine.
The NATO meeting in Brussels is the first since Russia's military occupation and annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.
Russia in the past month massed tens of thousands of troops on its border with Ukraine, raising concerns that after annexing Crimea it might invade other parts of Ukraine.
On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry said it was withdrawing a battalion that had ended drills near the border.
11:00
1.4.2014
Rasmussen isn't mincing his words. No diplo-speak here:
"Unfortunately, I cannot confirm that Russia is withdrawing its troops. This is not what we are seeing. And this massive military build-up can in no way contribute to a de-escalation of the situation, a de-escalation that we all want to see."
11:06
1.4.2014
Interfax: Russian Ministry of Culture ready to fund film that would tell "the truth about Maidan"...
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) April 1, 2014
11:17
1.4.2014
And then on the Twitter feed of Shaun Walker, the Moscow correspondent for "The Guardian," some speculation on who could play who in a Truth About The Maidan film:
would love to have seen pete postlethwaite play Lavrov, philip seymour hoffman as churkin and nigel farage as medvedev @shaunwalker7
— Tom Miles (@tgemiles) April 1, 2014
@shaunwalker7 with Liz Hurley as Tymoshenko and Steven Seagal as Yarosh
— max seddon (@maxseddon) April 1, 2014
@shaunwalker7 @maxseddon I would think Depardieu would be more suited to playing one of the Maidan barricades if he simply lies down!
— Kevin Stewart (@KS66SCO) April 1, 2014
@maxseddon @shaunwalker7 Hilary Swank as Matvienko?
— Oliver Bullough (@OliverBullough) April 1, 2014
@maxseddon @shaunwalker7 Poroshenko played by Robbie Coltrane.
— Alexander Smith (@AlexMurraySmith) April 1, 2014
@AlexMurraySmith @shaunwalker7 @maxseddon Ooh this is fun. Hillary Swank plays plucky Crimean prosecutor fighting rampant "nyash-myash."
— pete_leonard (@pete_leonard) April 1, 2014
11:23
1.4.2014
The veteran leader of Crimean Tatars called on the UN Security Council to send peacekeeping forces to Crimea:
Mustafa Dzhemilev told VOA correspondents after an informal Security Council meeting on Crimea that the sanctions introduced against Russia by the United States and European Union are not sufficient to make Russia leave Crimea.
According to Dzhemilev, the insufficient pressure on Moscow over the annexation of Crimea might lead to bloodshed on the peninsula and Ukrainians' "rightful" demand to regain the status of a nuclear power.
Dzhemilev, a prominent former Soviet dissident, reiterated that Crimean Tatars see their future with Ukraine only.
The session was organized by Lithuania. Lithuania's deputy UN ambassador, Rita Kazragiene, said the meeting gave members their first opportunity to hear the Crimean Tatars' concerns about media impartiality and minority rights.
Russia boycotted the council session.
According to Dzhemilev, the insufficient pressure on Moscow over the annexation of Crimea might lead to bloodshed on the peninsula and Ukrainians' "rightful" demand to regain the status of a nuclear power.
Dzhemilev, a prominent former Soviet dissident, reiterated that Crimean Tatars see their future with Ukraine only.
The session was organized by Lithuania. Lithuania's deputy UN ambassador, Rita Kazragiene, said the meeting gave members their first opportunity to hear the Crimean Tatars' concerns about media impartiality and minority rights.
Russia boycotted the council session.
11:54
1.4.2014
. @RFERL's Moldovan Service checked w Moldovan authorities and this report is not true. No plans for Putin to come to Moldova.
— Robert Coalson (@CoalsonR) April 1, 2014
11:55
1.4.2014
"@russian_market: G-8 without Russia pic.twitter.com/lAdP6TLAzv"
— Sewe Saldanha (@ClanSewe) April 1, 2014
13:01
1.4.2014
This just in from the wires:
Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko says her party has proposed the largest amnesty in Ukraine since the country obtained independence in 1991.
Talking to journalists in Kyiv today, Tymoshenko said the proposal will be debated in parliament next week.
According to her, up to 70,000 people may be released on the proposed amnesty.
Tymoshenko stated that "thousands of innocent owners of small and medium-sized businesses have been thrown behind bars" during Viktor Yanukovych's presidency for "their refusal to support then-ruling party," and those people must be released.
Tymoshenko, who was released from prison in late February after President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted by violent antigovernment protests, has been nominated by her Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party for the presidency.
The upcoming presidential election is scheduled for May 25.
Talking to journalists in Kyiv today, Tymoshenko said the proposal will be debated in parliament next week.
According to her, up to 70,000 people may be released on the proposed amnesty.
Tymoshenko stated that "thousands of innocent owners of small and medium-sized businesses have been thrown behind bars" during Viktor Yanukovych's presidency for "their refusal to support then-ruling party," and those people must be released.
Tymoshenko, who was released from prison in late February after President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted by violent antigovernment protests, has been nominated by her Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party for the presidency.
The upcoming presidential election is scheduled for May 25.
13:15
1.4.2014
Right of states to choose their course is fundamental for Europe & we must stand by it - my op-ed http://t.co/2Ty0LHvhqA #NATO
— AndersFogh Rasmussen (@AndersFoghR) April 1, 2014
13:47
1.4.2014
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service has just issued this video showing Ukrainian riot police surrounding the Dnipro Hotel in central Kyiv in the early hours of April 1 to disarm members of the ultranationalist Right Sector group who were staying there. Ukraine's interior minister ordered the action after an alleged shooting by a Right Sector member left three injured. Right Sector members left the hotel peacefully a few hours after the police deployment:
