Tag: Russia

Ukraine’s east braces for anti-rebel operation as deadline passes

(Reuters) – Towns in eastern Ukraine on Monday braced for military action from government forces as a deadline passed for pro-Russian separatists to disarm and end their occupation of state buildings or face a major “anti-terrorist” operation. As the 9 a.m. (2 a.m. EDT)) deadline issued by authorities in Kiev expired, a Reuters reporter in the flashpoint city of Slaviansk, where armed men had seized two government buildings, said there was no outward sign the […]

Ukraine, Russia And The United States Trade Accusations At Emergency U.N. Meeting

(Reuters) — The United Nations Security Council held an emergency session on Sunday night (April 13) to discuss the escalating crisis in Ukraine, just hours before a deadline by Kiev for pro-Russian separatists to disarm by Monday morning or face a “full-scale anti-terrorist operation” by its armed forces. The Council began meeting at 8 p.m. (0000 GMT on Monday) at Russia’s request afterMoscow called Kiev’s plans to mobilize the army to put down a rebellion by pro-Russian militants in eastern Ukraine “criminal.” Ukraine along with […]

U.N. Security Council meets over Ukraine hours before deadline

(Reuters) – The United Nations Security Council held an emergency session on Sunday night to discuss the escalating crisis in Ukraine, just hours before a deadline by Kiev for pro-Russian separatists to disarm by Monday morning or face a “full-scale anti-terrorist operation” by its armed forces. The Council began meeting at 8 p.m. at Russia’s request after Moscow called Kiev’s plans to mobilize the army to put down a rebellion by pro-Russian militants in eastern Ukraine […]

Western nations line up at U.N. to slam Russia’s moves on Ukraine

(Reuters) – Western nations on Sunday accused Russia of massing tens of thousands of well-equipped troops near the Ukrainian border in preparation for a Crimea-style invasion, while Russia denounced what it said was Ukraine’s Russophobic, anti-Semitic leadership. “Satellite images show that there are between 35,000 and 40,000 Russian troops in the vicinity of the border with Ukraine, equipped with combat aircraft, tanks, artillery and logistical support units,” Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said. “This is in […]

Ukraine moves to retake Slovyansk buildings from Russia sympathizers

Ukraine’s government has launched an assault on separatists in an eastern town of Slovyansk. The move comes one day after pro-Russia activists seized government buildings in the city amid warnings of a crackdown by Kyiv. On Sunday, Ukraine’s government launched an “anti-terrorist operation” in Slovyansk, a town about 150 kilometers (90 miles) from the Russian border, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said. “Units from all of the country’s force structures are participating,” Avakov wrote on his […]

NATO tells Russia to stop massing troops along Ukraine’s border

NATO has told Russia to “stop massing” its troops on Ukraine’s border and open a “genuine dialogue.” Kyiv meanwhile has offered amnesties to pro-Russian occupiers of buildings in eastern Ukraine. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Thursday that Russia had 40,000 troops “ready for combat” along Ukraine’s eastern border. Moscow said the Western alliance was merely imagining a Russian threat. Visiting the Czech capital, Prague, Rasmussen (pictured) told a news conference that if […]

EU imposes sanctions after Crimea moves to join Russia

(Reuters) – The European Union is to impose sanctions including asset freezes and travel bans on 21 officials from Russia and Ukraine after Crimea applied to join Russia on Monday following a weekend referendum, Lithuania’s foreign minister said. Crimea’s leaders declared a Soviet-style 97-percent result in favor of seceding from Ukraine in a vote condemned as illegal by Kiev and the West. After a meeting lasting around three hours, the EU’s 28 foreign ministers agreed […]

CEOs of biggest Russian firms could be hit by sanctions: paper

(Reuters) – The CEOs of Russia’s two largest firms are on a list of those who may be hit next week with European and U.S. sanctions over the Crimea crisis, a German newspaper said on Friday, suggesting tougher than expected measures against Russia’s elite. Moscow shipped more troops and armor into Crimea on Friday and repeated its threat to invade other parts of Ukraine, showing no sign of heeding Western pleas to back off from the […]

US Secretary of State Kerry and Russia’s Lavrov hold crisis talks on Ukraine

US Secretary of State John Kerry has met with his Russian counterpart in a bid to defuse tensions ahead of a secession referendum in Crimea. At a UN meeting Thursday, Russia and Ukraine insisted they did not want war. Top US diplomat, John Kerry, has met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in London on Friday in a last-minute bid to stave off escalating tensions in the East-West crisis over Ukraine. Kerry was expected to […]

Ukraine standoff intensifies; Russia says sanctions will ‘boomerang’

(Reuters) – Russia said any U.S. sanctions imposed on Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine will boomerang back on the United States and that Crimea has the right to self-determination as armed men tried to seize another Ukrainian military base on the peninsula. In a telephone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned against “hasty and reckless steps” that could harm Russian-American relations, the foreign ministry said on Friday. […]

2014 Winter Paralympics underway in Sochi

The 2014 Winter Paralympics have begun in Sochi, Russia. Just one Ukraine athlete participated in the opening ceremony, amid simmering tensions over Crimea. After all 45 teams had taken part in the opening ceremony at the Fisht Stadium on Friday, the Games were officially opened by Russian President Vladimir Putin: “I declare the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games open,” he said. Ukraine was among those nations that participated in the opening ceremony, but warned it could […]

In Ukraine, nationalists gain influence – and scrutiny

(Reuters) – When protest leaders in Ukraine helped oust a president widely seen as corrupt, they became heroes of the barricades. But as they take places in the country’s new government, some are facing uncomfortable questions about their own values and associations, not least alleged links to neo-fascist extremists. Russia’s president Vladimir Putin claims Ukraine has fallen into the hands of far-right fascist groups, and some Western experts have also raised concerns about the influence […]