Polish Leaders Welcome U.S. Troops As Part Of NATO Buildup
Polish leaders welcomed U.S. troops to their country on January 14, with Prime Minister Beata Szydlo saying it was a "great day" that would help ensure the region's security.
About 3,500 American soldiers have been deployed as part of NATO troop rotations in Eastern Europe aimed at reassuring regional allies following Russian moves against Ukraine.
"This is an important day for Poland, for Europe, for our common defense," Szydlo said on January 14 at a ceremony in the western town of Zagan.
Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz said the troops would help ensure "freedom, independence, and peace in Europe and the whole world."
"This is America's most capable fighting force -- a combat-ready, highly trained U.S. armored brigade with our most advanced equipment and weaponry," said U.S. Ambassador to Poland Paul Jones at the Zagan ceremony.
"This force embodies America's ironclad commitment to honor our NATO treaty obligation to defend our NATO allies," he added. "And as threats grow, U.S. military deployments also grow."
Russia has been highly critical of the troop deployment, which comes in reactions to Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 and its backing of separatists in the country’s east.
"These actions threaten our interests, our security," President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on January 12. "Especially as it concerns a third party building up its military presence near our borders."
Based on reporting by AFP, AP, and CNN
Barring any major developments, that ends the live blog for tonight.
Ukraine Urged To Reverse Ban On Broadcasts Of Independent Russian TV Station
Ukrainian authorities should “immediately” cancel an order banning a prominent independent Russian television station from broadcasting in the country, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says.
The National Radio and TV Council (NRTC) on January 12 ordered Ukrainian broadcasters to stop airing reports by Dozhd (Rain) within about a month, the Moscow-based channel said.
“This ham-handed censorship will deprive Russian-speaking Ukrainian viewers of a counterpoint to Russian state-controlled media,” CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said in January 13 statement.
Dozhd cited an official from the channel’s Ukrainian partner, Volya, as saying the reason for the ban was that Dozhd had violated a prohibition on advertising.
The Interfax news agency, however, cited a council member as saying Dozhd had failed to recognize Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity when it aired an image showing the boundary with Crimea as the state border, suggesting that Crimea is part of Russia.
Russia seized control of Crimea in 2014, but Kyiv and most of the rest of the world continue to consider the Black Sea peninsula part of Ukraine.
Main news from overnight:
U.S. President Barack Obama on January 13 extended all U.S. sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Crimea and aggression in Ukraine by one year through March 2018.
The move appears designed to make it harder for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to roll back the sanctions after Obama leaves office on January 20. Trump has said he wants to improve relations with Russia and would take a second look at the sanctions, although several of his chosen cabinet members said this week that they support the sanctions.
In extending the sanctions, which were due to expire in March 2017, Obama said the Russian government and other people and organizations targeted by the sanctions have "undermined democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine" by their "use of force in Ukraine" and thereby "threaten its peace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity."
Because of the threat to Ukraine, Obama said, Russia's actions "pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States."
The European Union has parallel sanctions on Russia that are due to expire in July. Italy and other EU members have said they would push to end the sanctions, especially if Trump carries out a softening of U.S. policy towards Russia.
We are now closing the live blog for today, but we'll be back again tomorrow morning to follow all the latest developments. Until then, you can keep up with all our other Ukraine coverage here.