Obama: Russia 'not fooling anybody' over Ukraine – live
Barack Obama says Vladimir Putin's rationale for his incursion into Crimea was not "fooling anybody" and that Russian "meddling" in Ukraine would isolate Moscow
Military personnel, believed to be
Russian servicemen, march outside the territory of a Ukrainian military
unit in the village of Perevalnoye outside Simferopol. Photo: REUTERS
5:51PM GMT 04 Mar 2014
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• Obama: Putin is 'not fooling anybody'
• Putin: there has been 'unconstitutional takeover' in Ukraine
• Germany: 'no solution in sight to Ukraine crisis'
• Russia warns US of response if sanctions imposed
• No overnight assault but Crimea remains tense
• Russia states Viktor Yanukovych asked for military help
• Putin: there has been 'unconstitutional takeover' in Ukraine
• Germany: 'no solution in sight to Ukraine crisis'
• Russia warns US of response if sanctions imposed
• No overnight assault but Crimea remains tense
• Russia states Viktor Yanukovych asked for military help
Latest
20.26 More than 1,000 demonstrators with Ukrainian flags took to the streets of the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on Tuesday, for the first time outnumbering pro-Moscow youths who have seized its government building, which flies the Russian flag, Reuters reports.
President Vladimir Putin's declaration on Saturday that Russia had the right
to invade Ukraine was accompanied by pro-Russian demonstrations across
Ukraine's mainly Russian-speaking south and east.
But in the four days since, the tide of opinion in eastern cities appears to
be turning back towards Kiev.
Bearing placards with slogans such as: "I am Russian. I don't need
protection," the protesters marched near the occupied regional government
building, staying far enough away to avoid clashing with the pro-Russian
youths still inside.
19.52 Russia said it had successfully test-fired an intercontinental
ballistic missile, with tensions high over its seizure of control in the
Crimea and its threat to send more forces to its neighbour Ukraine,
according to a Reuters report.
The Strategic Rocket Forces launched an RS-12M Topol missile from the
southerly Astrakhan region and the dummy warhead hit its target at a proving
ground in Kazakhstan, Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Yegorov told state-run
news agency RIA.
The Pentagon has told Luis Martinez of ABC News that the United States had been notified of the test, which was planned ahead of the recent and current unrest in Ukraine.
19.44 A UN envoy is en route to Crimea to assess the situation in the region, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky has said amid a confrontation between Russia and Ukraine.
The UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson has asked Robert Serry "to travel to Crimea to take stock and evaluate the situation there," Nesirky said.
18.06 Baroness Ashton held "useful" talks in Madrid today with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"We had a useful discussion which lasted over an hour," a European diplomatic source quoted the EU foreign policy chief as saying after the meeting held in the Russian ambassador's residence in Madrid.
17.52 The Russia Today host who criticised Kremlin (see below) has been sent to Crimea, Josie Ensor reports:
Russia Today management told Channel 4 that Miss Martin had been "misled
by American mainstream media".
However, in Russia Today's official statement released on Tuesday afternoon it said: "Contrary to the popular opinion, RT doesn’t beat its journalists into submission, and they are free to express their own opinions, not just in private but on the air. This is the case with Abby’s commentary on the Ukraine.
"We respect her views, and the views of all our journalists, presenters and program hosts, and there will be absolutely no reprimands made against Ms. Martin.
"In her comment Ms. Martin also noted that she does not possess a deep knowledge of reality of the situation in Crimea. As such we’ll be sending her to Crimea to give her an opportunity to make up her own mind from the epicentre of the story."
A Russian soldier watches Ukrainian servicemen at Belbek airport in the
Crimea region
16.57 Barack Obama has also been speaking at a school in Washington. He said Russian "meddling" pushes nations away from Moscow and that Vladimir Putin's rationale for his incursion into Crimea was not "fooling anybody":
There is a strong belief that Russia's action is violating international law.
President Putin seems to have a different set of lawyers making a different
set of interpretations. I don't think that's fooling anybody.
Secretary of State John Kerry places roses on the Shrine of the Fallen
in Kiev
16.26 John Kerry is talking in Kiev:
The US reaffirms its commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty. The United States
reaffirms its commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
According to international law, we condemn the Russian Federation's act of
aggression. There is nothing strong in what Russia is doing.
These brave Ukrainians took to the streets to stand against tyranny and demand democracy, but instead they were met with snipers and picked off one after another.
The Russian government would have you believe that Russian actions are legitimate.
The larger point is that diplomacy, not force, can solve disputes like this in the 21st century.
The United States would prefer to see this de-escalate. [But if Russia does not continue this path, the US ] will isolate Russia poilitically, diplomatically and economically.
This is the 21st century and we should not see nations step back to the 19th or 20th century.
Ukrainians warm themselves next to a fire at Kiev's Independence Square
15.56 Ukrainian and Russian governments have begun high-level contacts on the crisis in Ukraine, Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk has said.
15.05 A Russia Today presenter has apparently gone massively off message. In a report on the Kremlin-funded Russia Today television station, Abby Martin said she "wanted to say something from my heart about the ongoing political crisis in Ukraine and Russia's military occupation of Crimea".
Just because I work here, for RT, doesn't mean I don't have editorial
independence and I can't stress enough how strongly I am against any
military intervention in sovereign nations' affairs.
What Russia did is wrong.
14.55 David Cameron, speaking in Coventry, said:
On the issue of Ukraine and our attitude towards Russia, we should be very
clear about this; Britain is working with our allies and partners, with
America, with France and Germany, the leaders of which I spoke to yesterday
through the European Union to make sure we take a very clear and strong
approach in two vital respects.
First of all, to say to the people of Ukraine we back your ability to choose your own future.
You should be able to choose the path you take and you'll have the support of countries like Britain, France and Germany, the EU and America in doing so and we'll obviously be working through the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and other organisations to give Ukraine and the people of Ukraine the chance to choose that future.
We'll also be sending a very clear message, and are sending a very clear message, to the Government in Russia that what has happened is unacceptable.
A child plays near Russian soldiers as they guard the gate of a
Ukrainian infantry base in Perevalne
14.45 Russian navy ships are blocking both ends of the Kerch Strait, Ukraine border guards have said - Reuters.
14.42 Channel 4's Lindsey Hilsum tweets:
<noframe>Twitter: Lindsey Hilsum - Suddenly masked paramilitaries turned up at <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&q=%23Belbek" target="_blank">#Belbek</a> airforce base <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&q=%23Crimea" target="_blank">#Crimea</a>. Said they were from <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&q=%23Sevastopol" target="_blank">#Sevastopol</a> <a href="http://t.co/FOtg4fLPUN" target="_blank">http://t.co/FOtg4fLPUN</a></noframe>
14.38 The Kremlin has released a full transcript of Vladimir Putin's press conference.
14.25 Dr Liam Fox, Britain's former defence secretary, has told the BBC that the intervention in Ukraine was the latest example of a "thuggish pattern of behaviour" by Russia:
Much of this crisis was made in the Kremlin and there are those there who have
never really got over the idea of the break-up of the Soviet Union.
Their insistence on having what they call 'the near abroad', in other words those countries that they demand to have control over, is anachronistic and destabilising.
We have to make very clear at all times that sovereign nations have to be able to exercise their self-determination free from hindrance and interference.
A coffin with the body of Volodymyr Topiy, 59, who was found burned in
the house of trade unions during recent clashes, is carried along a street
during his funeral in Kiev's Independence Square
13.45 Reuters reports that an official travelling with John Kerry in Kiev said:
We want to very visibly embrace Ukraine. Part of that is through an IMF
package, part of it will be through bilateral assistance but in conjunction
with our partners to try to support Ukraine.
13.44 The Turkish Air Force scrambled eight F-16 fighter jets on Monday after a Russian surveillance plane flew parallel along its Black Sea coast, the military has said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in Kiev
13.34 A good piece from Patrick Donahue and Tino Andresen at Bloomberg on the complex relationship between Germany and Russia - and Merkel and Putin:
While Merkel and Putin have clashed over topics from civil liberties and gas
imports to art looted by the Soviets at the end of World War II, they have a
shared history.
A Lutheran pastor’s daughter who faced discrimination at her East German school due to her father’s religion, Merkel learned Russian so diligently that she won prizes and a trip to Moscow. Putin is a fluent German speaker who served as a KGB officer in the East German city of Dresden during the Cold War.
13.03 We have put together some graphics and maps to help explain what is at stake in Ukraine:
12.38 In the House of Commons, William Hague has praised Ukraine's interim government for refusing to rise to Russia's ''deliberate provocation'':
I commend the Ukrainian authorities for refusing to rise to provocation and I
urged them yesterday when I was in Kiev to maintain that posture through all
circumstances and at all times. And I believe they will be determined to do
so.
This continues to be a serious risk, particularly that deliberate provocation could give rise to a dangerous incident.
12.32 US officials say the White House will announce $1 billion in energy aid to Ukraine, AFP reports.
12.25 John Kerry's plane has landed in Kiev.
12.18 Roland Oliphant reports from the Belbek airforce base that the standoff is now over. Ukrainian troops have retreated.
Russian troops order Ukrainian troops back at Belbek airforce base
13.06 Here's footage of the Russian soldiers firing warning shots as Ukrainians approach on Belbek airport, demanding their jobs back.
11.50 Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, is also speaking - he states that Moscow's move in Crimea was correct and that forces had seized arms and explosives.
Unarmed Ukrainian troops confront soldiers under Russian command
occupying the Belbek airbase in Crimea
11.12 Vladimir Putin still speaking. He claims that sanctions will backfire on the West and denies that Russian forces had surrounded Ukraine bases in Crimea. He added that deposed Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych had no political future but asserted he was legally still head of state. "I think that he has no political future. And I told him this," Mr Putin said,
11.10 Observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe will go to the Crimea region where Russian forces have taken control, Ukraine's top security official, Andriy Paruby, has said, adding that the situation in Crimea was complicated but stable.
Vladimir Putin speaks on TV
10.40 Vladimir Putin is speaking, claiming there has been an "unconstitutional takeover" in Ukraine. Putin says that Yanukovich fulfilled all conditions of the February 21 agreement with the opposition and that he effectively gave up all power.
There can only be one assessment of what happened in Kiev and Ukraine as a
whole - this was an anti-constitutional takeover and armed seizure of power.
The acting president is not legitimate. The legitimate president is Yanukovich.
Ukraine is not our closest neighbour but is our brother. Ukrainian troops and Russian troops will not be on different sides of the barricade, they will be on the same side of the barricade.
[There is no need to use force in Crimea or send troops to Ukraine] but Russia will do so as a last resort. Russia reserves the right to use all means to protect citizens in Ukraine.
Market turmoil is a tactical, temporary decision by investors... Russia is ready to host the G8 but [if Western leaders do not want to attend] they don't need to.
Russian and Ukrainian troops face off at Belbek airbase in Crimea
10.33 Telegraph correspondent, Roland Oliphant, reports from Crimea:
The most intense conflict yet in the Russian takeover of Crimea is
currently underwayat the Belbek airforce base. It was occupied by Russian
forces some days ago, but this morning the Ukrainian garrison commander led
his men back to the base unarmed and demanded access to their weapons.
The Russians responded by firing in the air, which led to the ongoing stand-off. A Ukrainian officer, who did not want to be named, told me that if the Ukrainina forces had arrived armed, there is "no doubt" the Russians would have shot them all.
10.24 John Kerry, US secretary of state, is on his way to Kiev to give support to its new leaders. He stopped off in New York to visit his new granddaughter, who was born Monday morning:
Secretary of State John Kerry boards his plane at Andrews Air Force Base
en route to Ukraine
10.21 Russia's Gazprom announces it is to end gas price discount for Ukraine from April
10.03 Ukraine prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, is to meet EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday. Herman Van Rompuy, EU president, tweeted:
<noframe>Twitter: Herman Van Rompuy - EU HoSG will discuss situation in <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&q=%23Ukraine" target="_blank">#Ukraine</a> with PM Yatsenyuk in Brussels Thursday prior to extraordinary summit <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&q=%23euco" target="_blank">#euco</a> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/Yatsenyuk_AP" target="_blank">@Yatsenyuk_AP</a></noframe>
09.51 Germany's foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, says there is "no solution in sight" to the Ukraine crisis after a "difficult" meeting in Geneva with Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov:
I had a difficult, long and very serious talk but it wasn't enough to say that
a solution is in sight.
I can't run up a flag to say that we are on the way to finding a solution and that Ukraine and Russia are about to start talking.
Russian military armoured personnel carriers (APC) drive on the road
from Sevastopol to Simferopol
09.45 What are the potential ramifications of the Ukraine crisis for the UK economy:
Much has changed in the past decade in financial relations between Britain
and Russia – and not just for Chelsea FC, whose on–pitch success has been
funded by owner Roman Abramovich.
His fellow oligarchs have fuelled the London property market, with Knight Frank data showing that Russians were the biggest foreign buyers of £1m–plus homes in the capital last year, spending more than £500m on some estimates. Their regular rows have also kept the UK legal profession in pocket.
09.34 Vladimir Putin is due to give his first comments on the Ukraine crisis in a press conference this morning.
Ukrainian service men wait in a column at Belbek airport
09.28 Fears of an assault by Russian forces on Ukrainian military bases surrounded in Crimea did not materialise overnight. Vladyslav Seleznyov, the defence ministry spokesman for Crimea, told AFP:
The night was quiet... No more declarations have been made by the Russian side.
09.20 Telegraph video of Vladimir Putin inspecting troops in western Russia yesterday:
09.12 Ukraine's parliament ratified an agreement on Tuesday to accept a 610 million euro loan from the European Union, agreed in February 2013 but never ratified under deposed pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovich.
09.01 A Kremlin aide has said that Russia could reduce to zero its economic dependency on the United States. Sergei Glazyev, Kremlin economic aide said:
We would find a way not just to reduce our dependency on the United States to
zero but to emerge from those sanctions with great benefits for ourselves.
An attempt to announce sanctions would end in a crash for the financial system of the United States, which would cause the end of the domination of the United States in the global financial system.
09.00 London (GMT), 11.00 Kiev (EET), 13.00 Moscow (MSK), 01.00 Washington (PST) Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the Ukraine crisis
The Strategic Rocket Forces launched an RS-12M Topol missile from the
southerly Astrakhan region and the dummy warhead hit its target at a proving
ground in Kazakhstan, Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Yegorov told state-run
news agency RIA.
The Pentagon has told Luis Martinez of ABC News that the United States had been notified of the test, which was planned ahead of the recent and current unrest in Ukraine.
19.44 A UN envoy is en route to Crimea to assess the situation in the region, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky has said amid a confrontation between Russia and Ukraine.
The UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson has asked Robert Serry "to travel to Crimea to take stock and evaluate the situation there," Nesirky said.
18.06 Baroness Ashton held "useful" talks in Madrid today with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"We had a useful discussion which lasted over an hour," a European diplomatic source quoted the EU foreign policy chief as saying after the meeting held in the Russian ambassador's residence in Madrid.
17.52 The Russia Today host who criticised Kremlin (see below) has been sent to Crimea, Josie Ensor reports:
Russia Today management told Channel 4 that Miss Martin had been "misled
by American mainstream media".
However, in Russia Today's official statement released on Tuesday afternoon it said: "Contrary to the popular opinion, RT doesn’t beat its journalists into submission, and they are free to express their own opinions, not just in private but on the air. This is the case with Abby’s commentary on the Ukraine.
"We respect her views, and the views of all our journalists, presenters and program hosts, and there will be absolutely no reprimands made against Ms. Martin.
"In her comment Ms. Martin also noted that she does not possess a deep knowledge of reality of the situation in Crimea. As such we’ll be sending her to Crimea to give her an opportunity to make up her own mind from the epicentre of the story."
A Russian soldier watches Ukrainian servicemen at Belbek airport in the
Crimea region
16.57 Barack Obama has also been speaking at a school in Washington. He said Russian "meddling" pushes nations away from Moscow and that Vladimir Putin's rationale for his incursion into Crimea was not "fooling anybody":
There is a strong belief that Russia's action is violating international law.
President Putin seems to have a different set of lawyers making a different
set of interpretations. I don't think that's fooling anybody.
Secretary of State John Kerry places roses on the Shrine of the Fallen
in Kiev
16.26 John Kerry is talking in Kiev:
The US reaffirms its commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty. The United States
reaffirms its commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
According to international law, we condemn the Russian Federation's act of
aggression. There is nothing strong in what Russia is doing.
These brave Ukrainians took to the streets to stand against tyranny and demand democracy, but instead they were met with snipers and picked off one after another.
The Russian government would have you believe that Russian actions are legitimate.
The larger point is that diplomacy, not force, can solve disputes like this in the 21st century.
The United States would prefer to see this de-escalate. [But if Russia does not continue this path, the US ] will isolate Russia poilitically, diplomatically and economically.
This is the 21st century and we should not see nations step back to the 19th or 20th century.
Ukrainians warm themselves next to a fire at Kiev's Independence Square
15.56 Ukrainian and Russian governments have begun high-level contacts on the crisis in Ukraine, Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk has said.
15.05 A Russia Today presenter has apparently gone massively off message. In a report on the Kremlin-funded Russia Today television station, Abby Martin said she "wanted to say something from my heart about the ongoing political crisis in Ukraine and Russia's military occupation of Crimea".
Just because I work here, for RT, doesn't mean I don't have editorial
independence and I can't stress enough how strongly I am against any
military intervention in sovereign nations' affairs.
What Russia did is wrong.
14.55 David Cameron, speaking in Coventry, said:
On the issue of Ukraine and our attitude towards Russia, we should be very
clear about this; Britain is working with our allies and partners, with
America, with France and Germany, the leaders of which I spoke to yesterday
through the European Union to make sure we take a very clear and strong
approach in two vital respects.
First of all, to say to the people of Ukraine we back your ability to choose your own future.
You should be able to choose the path you take and you'll have the support of countries like Britain, France and Germany, the EU and America in doing so and we'll obviously be working through the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and other organisations to give Ukraine and the people of Ukraine the chance to choose that future.
We'll also be sending a very clear message, and are sending a very clear message, to the Government in Russia that what has happened is unacceptable.
A child plays near Russian soldiers as they guard the gate of a
Ukrainian infantry base in Perevalne
14.45 Russian navy ships are blocking both ends of the Kerch Strait, Ukraine border guards have said - Reuters.
14.42 Channel 4's Lindsey Hilsum tweets:
<noframe>Twitter: Lindsey Hilsum - Suddenly masked paramilitaries turned up at <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&q=%23Belbek" target="_blank">#Belbek</a> airforce base <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&q=%23Crimea" target="_blank">#Crimea</a>. Said they were from <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&q=%23Sevastopol" target="_blank">#Sevastopol</a> <a href="http://t.co/FOtg4fLPUN" target="_blank">http://t.co/FOtg4fLPUN</a></noframe>
14.38 The Kremlin has released a full transcript of Vladimir Putin's press conference.
14.25 Dr Liam Fox, Britain's former defence secretary, has told the BBC that the intervention in Ukraine was the latest example of a "thuggish pattern of behaviour" by Russia:
Much of this crisis was made in the Kremlin and there are those there who have
never really got over the idea of the break-up of the Soviet Union.
Their insistence on having what they call 'the near abroad', in other words those countries that they demand to have control over, is anachronistic and destabilising.
We have to make very clear at all times that sovereign nations have to be able to exercise their self-determination free from hindrance and interference.
A coffin with the body of Volodymyr Topiy, 59, who was found burned in
the house of trade unions during recent clashes, is carried along a street
during his funeral in Kiev's Independence Square
13.45 Reuters reports that an official travelling with John Kerry in Kiev said:
We want to very visibly embrace Ukraine. Part of that is through an IMF
package, part of it will be through bilateral assistance but in conjunction
with our partners to try to support Ukraine.
13.44 The Turkish Air Force scrambled eight F-16 fighter jets on Monday after a Russian surveillance plane flew parallel along its Black Sea coast, the military has said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in Kiev
13.34 A good piece from Patrick Donahue and Tino Andresen at Bloomberg on the complex relationship between Germany and Russia - and Merkel and Putin:
While Merkel and Putin have clashed over topics from civil liberties and gas
imports to art looted by the Soviets at the end of World War II, they have a
shared history.
A Lutheran pastor’s daughter who faced discrimination at her East German school due to her father’s religion, Merkel learned Russian so diligently that she won prizes and a trip to Moscow. Putin is a fluent German speaker who served as a KGB officer in the East German city of Dresden during the Cold War.
13.03 We have put together some graphics and maps to help explain what is at stake in Ukraine:
12.38 In the House of Commons, William Hague has praised Ukraine's interim government for refusing to rise to Russia's ''deliberate provocation'':
I commend the Ukrainian authorities for refusing to rise to provocation and I
urged them yesterday when I was in Kiev to maintain that posture through all
circumstances and at all times. And I believe they will be determined to do
so.
This continues to be a serious risk, particularly that deliberate provocation could give rise to a dangerous incident.
12.32 US officials say the White House will announce $1 billion in energy aid to Ukraine, AFP reports.
12.25 John Kerry's plane has landed in Kiev.
12.18 Roland Oliphant reports from the Belbek airforce base that the standoff is now over. Ukrainian troops have retreated.
Russian troops order Ukrainian troops back at Belbek airforce base
13.06 Here's footage of the Russian soldiers firing warning shots as Ukrainians approach on Belbek airport, demanding their jobs back.
11.50 Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, is also speaking - he states that Moscow's move in Crimea was correct and that forces had seized arms and explosives.
Unarmed Ukrainian troops confront soldiers under Russian command
occupying the Belbek airbase in Crimea
11.12 Vladimir Putin still speaking. He claims that sanctions will backfire on the West and denies that Russian forces had surrounded Ukraine bases in Crimea. He added that deposed Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych had no political future but asserted he was legally still head of state. "I think that he has no political future. And I told him this," Mr Putin said,
11.10 Observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe will go to the Crimea region where Russian forces have taken control, Ukraine's top security official, Andriy Paruby, has said, adding that the situation in Crimea was complicated but stable.
Vladimir Putin speaks on TV
10.40 Vladimir Putin is speaking, claiming there has been an "unconstitutional takeover" in Ukraine. Putin says that Yanukovich fulfilled all conditions of the February 21 agreement with the opposition and that he effectively gave up all power.
There can only be one assessment of what happened in Kiev and Ukraine as a
whole - this was an anti-constitutional takeover and armed seizure of power.
The acting president is not legitimate. The legitimate president is Yanukovich.
Ukraine is not our closest neighbour but is our brother. Ukrainian troops and Russian troops will not be on different sides of the barricade, they will be on the same side of the barricade.
[There is no need to use force in Crimea or send troops to Ukraine] but Russia will do so as a last resort. Russia reserves the right to use all means to protect citizens in Ukraine.
Market turmoil is a tactical, temporary decision by investors... Russia is ready to host the G8 but [if Western leaders do not want to attend] they don't need to.
Russian and Ukrainian troops face off at Belbek airbase in Crimea
10.33 Telegraph correspondent, Roland Oliphant, reports from Crimea:
The most intense conflict yet in the Russian takeover of Crimea is
currently underwayat the Belbek airforce base. It was occupied by Russian
forces some days ago, but this morning the Ukrainian garrison commander led
his men back to the base unarmed and demanded access to their weapons.
The Russians responded by firing in the air, which led to the ongoing stand-off. A Ukrainian officer, who did not want to be named, told me that if the Ukrainina forces had arrived armed, there is "no doubt" the Russians would have shot them all.
10.24 John Kerry, US secretary of state, is on his way to Kiev to give support to its new leaders. He stopped off in New York to visit his new granddaughter, who was born Monday morning:
Secretary of State John Kerry boards his plane at Andrews Air Force Base
en route to Ukraine
10.21 Russia's Gazprom announces it is to end gas price discount for Ukraine from April
10.03 Ukraine prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, is to meet EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday. Herman Van Rompuy, EU president, tweeted:
<noframe>Twitter: Herman Van Rompuy - EU HoSG will discuss situation in <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&q=%23Ukraine" target="_blank">#Ukraine</a> with PM Yatsenyuk in Brussels Thursday prior to extraordinary summit <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&q=%23euco" target="_blank">#euco</a> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/Yatsenyuk_AP" target="_blank">@Yatsenyuk_AP</a></noframe>
09.51 Germany's foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, says there is "no solution in sight" to the Ukraine crisis after a "difficult" meeting in Geneva with Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov:
I had a difficult, long and very serious talk but it wasn't enough to say that
a solution is in sight.
I can't run up a flag to say that we are on the way to finding a solution and that Ukraine and Russia are about to start talking.
Russian military armoured personnel carriers (APC) drive on the road
from Sevastopol to Simferopol
09.45 What are the potential ramifications of the Ukraine crisis for the UK economy:
Much has changed in the past decade in financial relations between Britain
and Russia – and not just for Chelsea FC, whose on–pitch success has been
funded by owner Roman Abramovich.
His fellow oligarchs have fuelled the London property market, with Knight Frank data showing that Russians were the biggest foreign buyers of £1m–plus homes in the capital last year, spending more than £500m on some estimates. Their regular rows have also kept the UK legal profession in pocket.
09.34 Vladimir Putin is due to give his first comments on the Ukraine crisis in a press conference this morning.
Ukrainian service men wait in a column at Belbek airport
09.28 Fears of an assault by Russian forces on Ukrainian military bases surrounded in Crimea did not materialise overnight. Vladyslav Seleznyov, the defence ministry spokesman for Crimea, told AFP:
The night was quiet... No more declarations have been made by the Russian side.
09.20 Telegraph video of Vladimir Putin inspecting troops in western Russia yesterday:
09.12 Ukraine's parliament ratified an agreement on Tuesday to accept a 610 million euro loan from the European Union, agreed in February 2013 but never ratified under deposed pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovich.
09.01 A Kremlin aide has said that Russia could reduce to zero its economic dependency on the United States. Sergei Glazyev, Kremlin economic aide said:
We would find a way not just to reduce our dependency on the United States to
zero but to emerge from those sanctions with great benefits for ourselves.
An attempt to announce sanctions would end in a crash for the financial system of the United States, which would cause the end of the domination of the United States in the global financial system.
09.00 London (GMT), 11.00 Kiev (EET), 13.00 Moscow (MSK), 01.00 Washington (PST) Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the Ukraine crisis
