15:52
3.4.2014
Ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, in an interview with DozhdTV from Dostov-on-Don, Russia, has rejected claims he gave orders to shoot at Euromaidan protesters in Kyiv.
"I have never issued any orders to shoot. And as far as I know, weapons have never been given to units that were involved in the protection of government offices and buildings. They were performing the duties provided to them by law. The fire was opened from the buildings, which at that period of time had been under the opposition's control."
16:12
3.4.2014
From our newsroom:
NATO Secretary-General Rasmussen has rejected Moscow's allegations that the alliance has violated agreements by boosting its forces in eastern Europe following Russia's annexation of Crimea.
Speaking at a joint press conference with the Estonian prime minister in Brussels, Rasmussen in turn accused Russia of "violating every principle and international commitment it has made." Russia said earlier it wanted answers from NATO on its activities in eastern Europe after the alliance promised to increase defenses for its eastern members who may feel menaced by Moscow's actions in annexing Ukraine's Crimea. But Rasmussen said he had not received any questions from Moscow and dismissed the Russian accusations about NATO's actions as "propaganda and disinformation."
Speaking at a joint press conference with the Estonian prime minister in Brussels, Rasmussen in turn accused Russia of "violating every principle and international commitment it has made." Russia said earlier it wanted answers from NATO on its activities in eastern Europe after the alliance promised to increase defenses for its eastern members who may feel menaced by Moscow's actions in annexing Ukraine's Crimea. But Rasmussen said he had not received any questions from Moscow and dismissed the Russian accusations about NATO's actions as "propaganda and disinformation."
16:19
3.4.2014
From Halia Pavliva and Ksenia Galouchko's Bloomberg piece titled "Gazprom's $910 Billion Gaffe Shows Putin Economy Waning":
Back in April 2007, in the midst of the greatest commodities rally on record, OAO Gazprom’s (OGZD) deputy chief executive officer, Alexander Medvedev, was talking big.
Russia’s natural-gas export monopoly aspired to be the world’s largest company, he said while offering up a prediction: its market value would quadruple to $1 trillion in as little as seven years.
Medvedev was off by $910 billion. Since he made that forecast, no company among the world’s top 5,000 has suffered a bigger collapse in market capitalization than Gazprom, a $154 billion plunge that’s become emblematic of the malaise that has overtaken President Vladimir Putin’s economy....
Sergei Kupriyanov, a Gazprom spokesman in Moscow, said yesterday...the sanctions that the U.S. and Europe imposed on Russia following its takeover of Crimea last month have contributed to the slump in Gazprom’s share price, deepening its discount to global peers.
Russia’s natural-gas export monopoly aspired to be the world’s largest company, he said while offering up a prediction: its market value would quadruple to $1 trillion in as little as seven years.
Medvedev was off by $910 billion. Since he made that forecast, no company among the world’s top 5,000 has suffered a bigger collapse in market capitalization than Gazprom, a $154 billion plunge that’s become emblematic of the malaise that has overtaken President Vladimir Putin’s economy....
Sergei Kupriyanov, a Gazprom spokesman in Moscow, said yesterday...the sanctions that the U.S. and Europe imposed on Russia following its takeover of Crimea last month have contributed to the slump in Gazprom’s share price, deepening its discount to global peers.
16:21
3.4.2014
More detail from Reuters and Interfax on Moscow's recall of its top military envoy to NATO, via our newsroom:
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said Colonel General Valery Yevnichev was being recalled to Moscow for consultations. Antonov accused NATO of deliberately "whipping up tensions" by suspending practical cooperation with Moscow following last month's Crimea annexation.
16:42
3.4.2014
The unrecognized annexation of Crimea by Russia has thrown a wrench into the process by which Ukrainian judges on the peninsula are paid, Ihor Samsin, head of the High Qualifications Commission of Judges of Ukraine, told our Ukrainian Service. Forty-six of 492 Ukrainian judges working in Crimea have requested transfers to mainland Ukraine, most of them citing a desire to be with their families.
16:49
3.4.2014
The UN's International Civil Aviation Organization has confirmed that air-traffic control over the Simferopol region is the responsibility of Ukraine. The statement, reported by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, follows a warning for civilian aircraft to avoid the area due to possible disputes or confusion over air-traffic control.
17:20
3.4.2014
"Joining the European Union is like selling your soul to the devil."
This video vox pop provides sober insight into attitudes among residents of Moldova's breakaway Transdniester region toward that country's current pro-EU course:
This video vox pop provides sober insight into attitudes among residents of Moldova's breakaway Transdniester region toward that country's current pro-EU course:
18:32
3.4.2014
"We expect Russia to go further in terms of pressure on the gas front, including limiting gas supplies to Ukraine." -- Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, in an interview with Reuters
18:34
3.4.2014
"That kind of action taken coercively against Ukraine is something we oppose and we're working with our European partners to assist Ukraine in its efforts to deal with it." -- White House Press Secretary Jay Carney on Gazprom's gas-price hike to Ukraine
18:47
3.4.2014
A former chairman of the Ukrainian Central Election Commission, Mikhaylo Ryabets, has warned that the elections planned for May 25 are at risk because the mandates of 11 of the 15 members of the current commission expire on June 1.
Here's the entire video interview with our Ukrainian Service (in Ukrainian):
Here's the entire video interview with our Ukrainian Service (in Ukrainian):
