(Reuters) – Ukraine’s new president Petro Poroshenko said his country would never give up Crimea and would not compromise on its path towards closer ties with Europe, spelling out a defiant message to Russia in his inaugural speech on Saturday. The 48-year-old billionaire took the oath of office before parliament, buoyed by Western support but facing a crisis in relations with Russia as a separatist uprising seethes in the east of his country. Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in […]
Tag: Ukraine
Putin, Ukraine leader break crisis ice at D-Day event
(Reuters) – The leaders of Russia and Ukraine held their first talks on Friday since Moscow annexed Crimea, discussing ways to end their four-month conflict in a brief encounter during commemorations in France of the World War Two D-Day landings. French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel brought together Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian president-elect Petro Poroshenko for a 15-minute meeting before they joined other dignitaries for lunch. The meeting was the culmination […]
Divided east Ukraine city calm after battle, rebels seek Russian help
(Reuters) – An uneasy calm returned to the streets of Donetsk on Wednesday after the biggest battle of the pro-Russian separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine, a conflict transformed by the landslide election of a pro-European leader who vowed to crush the revolt. Government forces killed dozens of rebel fighters on Monday and Tuesday in an assault to retake Donetsk International Airport, which the rebels had seized the morning after Ukrainians overwhelmingly elected Petro Poroshenko as […]
Pro Russian loyalists attack in Ukraine
In an attack by Pro-Russian loyalists, 17 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 3 were injured as the Ukrainian prime minister accused Russia of making the crisis worse.
Kremlin again says Putin has ordered troops from Ukraine
(Reuters) – The Kremlin announced on Monday President Vladimir Putin had ordered Russian forces near Ukraine back to their bases, but NATO and the United States said they saw no sign of a pullback and Moscow had failed to carry out such promises before. Moscow has massed tens of thousands of troops near the border regions where pro-Russian separatists have declared independent states, and Kiev and its Western allies fear they could be used to invade in […]
Kiev tells east Ukraine rebels vote for self-rule would be catastrophe
(Reuters) – Ukrainian acting President Oleksander Turchinov told eastern regions gripped by a pro-Russian uprising that they would be courting catastrophe if they voted “yes” in a separatist referendum on Sunday. Turchinov, who deems the vote in the Russian-speaking Donetsk and Luhansk regions illegal, urged the population to accept “round table” talks on greater autonomy. But, in reference to fighters who have seized police and government buildings, he said “terrorists” could not be included. The […]
Ukraine to continue ‘Anti-Terror’ operation in East
A senior Ukrainian official said that anti-terror operations will continue regardless of the postponement of independence referendum by pro-Russians.
Ukraine rebels ignore Putin call to delay self-rule vote
(Reuters) – Pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine ignored a public call by Russian President Vladimir Putin to postpone a referendum on self-rule, declaring they would go ahead on Sunday with a vote that could lead to war. The decision, which contradicted the conciliatory tone set by Putin just a day earlier, caused consternation in the West, which fears the referendum will tear Ukraine apart. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns said Russia was heading […]
Ukraine accuses Russia of engineering Odessa riots that killed over 40
(Reuters) – Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk accused Russia on Sunday of engineering clashes in Odessa that led to the deaths of more than 40 pro-Russian activists in a blazing building and pushed the country closer to civil war. Yatseniuk, speaking in Odessa, attacked police forces in the Black Sea port city, suggesting they were more interested in the fruits of corruption than maintaining order. Had they done their job, he said, “these terrorist organizations […]
Side deals with Moscow thwart drive to wean Europe off Russian gas By Henning Gloystein
(Reuters) – While officials in Brussels were calling for Europe to reduce its dependency on Russian natural gas and negotiate with Moscow as a bloc, Austria was quietly bypassing the European Commission to cut its own bilateral deal on building a pipeline. The deal on the South Stream pipeline, which will be built under the Black Sea to Bulgaria and on to central Europe, shows the European Union’s difficulty in creating a unified energy policy […]
Dozens killed in Ukraine fighting and fire; OSCE monitors freed
(Reuters) – At least 42 people were killed in a street battle between supporters and opponents of Russia in southern Ukraine that ended with dozens of pro-Russian protesters incinerated in a burning building, bringing the country closer to war. Pro-Russian rebels in the east freed seven European military observers on Saturday after holding them hostage for eight days, while Kiev pressed on with its biggest military operation so far to reclaim rebel-held territory in the […]
Moscow May Day parade lauds Putin as more Ukraine buildings seized
(Reuters) – Russia staged a huge May Day parade on Moscow’s Red Square for the first time since the Soviet era on Thursday, with workers holding banners proclaiming support for President Vladimir Putin after the seizure of territory from neighboringUkraine. Thousands of trade unionists marched with Russian flags and flags of Putin’s ruling United Russia party onto the giant square beneath the Kremlin walls, past the red granite mausoleum of Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin. Many banners displayed traditional […]





