Nov 17 (Reuters) – European Union governments may agree to impose personal sanctions on more Russian-backed rebels on Monday in response to a separatist vote in eastern Ukraine, but are unlikely to discuss new steps against Russia itself until mid-December, officials said. EU foreign ministers discussed how to respond to the Nov. 2 separatist election, which they say has no legal basis, as well as ways to launch reforms in Ukraine and engage Russia in finding a solution to the conflict. “We […]
Tag: Ukraine
Ukraine’s PM says main task is to build army to stop Russia
(Reuters) – Ukraine’s top priority is to build an army strong enough to stop Russian military aggression, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said on Friday, as he made recommendations for top positions in a new coalition government. The prospect of an all-out war returning to eastern Ukraine has piled pressure on the country’s struggling economy, driving the hryvnia currency down by some 17 percent this month and pushing borrowing costs sky-high. Ukraine’s pro-Western leaders and NATO […]
Ukraine accuses Russia of sending in tanks, escalating crisis
(Reuters) – Ukraine’s military accused Russia on Friday of sending a column of 32 tanks and truckloads of troops into the country’s east to support pro-Russian separatists fighting government forces. Thursday’s cross-border incursion, if confirmed, is a significant escalation of a conflict that has killed more than 4,000 people since the separatists rose up in mid-April and would call into question Russia’s commitment to a two-month-old ceasefire deal. The truce has looked particularly fragile this week, with […]
Tank column crosses from Russia into Ukraine: Kiev military
(Reuters) – A column of 32 tanks, 16 howitzer artillery systems and trucks carrying ammunition and fighters has crossed into eastern Ukraine from Russia, the Kiev military said on Friday. “The deployment continues of military equipment and Russian mercenaries to the front lines,” spokesman Andriy Lysenko said in a televised briefing referring to Thursday’s cross-border incursion. The report of a new Russian movement of armor across the border follows a charge on Thursday by pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine that […]
Russia at U.N. accuses U.S., allies of bossing world around
(Reuters) – Russia used its annual appearance at the U.N. General Assembly on Saturday to accuse the United States and its Western allies of bossing the world around, complaining they were attempting to dictate to everyone “what is good and evil.” The speech by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the 193-nation assembly was the latest example of the deteriorating relations between Moscow and Western powers, which have imposed sanctions on Russia over the conflict in neighboringUkraine. “The U.S.-led […]
Ukraine PM tells army to be on full battle alert despite ceasefire
By Richard Balmforth KIEV Wed Sep 17, 2014 4:57pm EDT (Reuters) – Ukraine’s prime minister told government forces to remain on full battle alert on Wednesday as fighting in the rebel-held eastern city of Donetsk killed at least two civilians and further strained a ceasefire with Russian-backed separatists. “Russia definitely will not give us either peace or stability. It is not their goal. So I am asking the defense minister for full battle readiness,” Arseny […]
Fresh shelling in Ukraine’s Donetsk puts ceasefire under more strain
By Richard Balmforth KIEV Mon Sep 15, 2014 4:57pm EDT (Reuters) – Fighting broke out again in Ukraine’s rebel-held city of Donetsk on Monday as President Petro Poroshenko prepared to unveil a risky plan to give the separatist-minded east “special status” in a bid to end a conflict that has killed over 3,000 people. The renewed fighting in the east’s main industrial hub, following a weekend in which at least six people were killed and […]
Ukraine’s leader sees no military solution of crisis, eyes reforms
(Reuters) – Ukraine’s president said on Friday there could be no military solution to his country’s crisis and said he hoped “a very fragile” ceasefire in the east would hold, allowing him to focus on rebuilding the shattered economy. Petro Poroshenko also said a new wave of European Union sanctions against Russia underlined Western solidarity with Kiev, and that the Ukrainian and EU parliaments could both ratify a deal on closer economic and political ties […]
U.S. steps up sanctions on Russia over Ukraine
(Reuters) – The United States announced more sanctions against Russia on Friday, affecting oil and defense industries and further limiting the access of major Russian banks to U.S. debt and equity markets to punish Russia for its intervention in Ukraine. The sanctions, which for the first time targeted Russia’s Sberbank , were timed to coincide with new European Union economic penalties that included restrictions on financing for some Russian state-owned companies and asset freezes on […]
NATO says Russia still have troops in Ukraine and its borders
According to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Russia still has an estimated 1,000 troops inside eastern Ukraine. This is despite the ceasefire between the Ukrainian government and the pro-Russian rebels. Besides the aforementioned troops, 20,000 more are stationed at the border.
Malaysia: Reports suggest MH17 shot down
(Reuters) – Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 broke apart over Ukraine due to impact from a large number of fragments, the Dutch Safety Board said on Tuesday, in a report that Malaysia’s prime minister and several experts said suggested it was shot down from the ground. The crash over pro-Russian rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine on July 17 killed 298 people, two thirds of them from the Netherlands. Ukraine and Western countries accuse the rebels of shooting it down with an […]
Artillery attack challenges ceasefire in east Ukraine
(Reuters) – Ukrainian government forces came under artillery fire late on Saturday near the strategic port of Mariupol in eastern Ukraine, in the first serious violation of a ceasefire declared only about 30 hours earlier. The presidents of Russia and Ukraine had earlier said the ceasefire, part of a peace road-map intended to end five months of conflict, was largely holding across eastern Ukraine, where Kiev’s forces have been battling pro-Russian separatists. A Reuters reporter heard prolonged artillery fire […]





