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Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Ukraine crisis: 'facts on the ground' are 'deeply troubling,' Obama says – live
Ukraine crisis: 'facts on the ground' are 'deeply troubling,' Obama says – live
Russian forces tell Ukrainians in Crimea to stand down
US: threats of force ‘constitute a dangerous escalation’
EU leaders announce emergency meeting on sanctions
• Russian forces in Crimea urged Ukrainian forces to give up their weapons and stand down, as the number of Russian troops and boats on the peninsula continued to grow. Russia built up forces on both sides of the ferry connecting it to Crimea and sent troops across. • “The facts on the ground in Crimea are deeply troubling,” US president Barack Obama said. “Russia is on the wrong side of history.” • The Ukrainian ambassador to the UN said 16,000 Russian troops have arrived in Crimea since 26 February. The Russian ambassador retorted that treaties allow 25,000. The Ukrainian envoy argued that the legal cap was 11,000. • In a feisty meeting at the UN, the Russian ambassador said that Moscow does not consider it its responsibility to return deposed president Viktor Yanukovich to power. • Pro-Russia demonstrators surrounded government buildings in at least three Ukrainian cities, hoisting Russian flags and chanting against the government in Kiev. • Markets took a dive, with Russia’s main stock index down almost 13% and the rouble off by 3% despite central bank efforts to shore it up. The Russian central bank hiked interest rates and said they may go higher. • The European Union called an emergency meeting for Thursday to discuss sanctions on Russia
or Russian officials, visa restrictions and other measures, if there is
not “a very quick deescalation.” The US also prepared sanctions
legislation. • US secretary of state John Kerry announced continued preparations to meet with Ukrainian government leaders in Kiev on Tuesday.
The “feisty” emergency
meeting on Ukraine has just wrapped up at the UN security council, the Guardian’s Ed Pilkington (@EdPilkington) reports:
It
turned into a pretty feisty slanging match between the Russian ambassador,
Vitaly Churkin, on the one hand, and the combined might of the US, UK
and France on the other.
Samantha Power,
the US ambassador to the UN, addressed Russia’s professed
desire to protect the rights of Russian speakers in the Crimea.
“There are so many options available to Russia to safeguard the
rights of ethnic Russians short of military action,” she said. “So
the very simple question today is why not support international
efforts, why not support an observer mission, why not pull back your
forces instead of sending more?”
Churkin insisted he
was open to observer missions, which encouraged the UK representative
Sir Mark Lyall Grant to ask him directly would he agree to
the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe sending observers to Crimea. The
Russian ambassador looked uncomfortable at that suggestion.
“We are not
talking about the OSCE,” he said bluntly.
As
frustration levels rose,
Churkin lashed back at the repeated accusations from his fellow
ambassadors that Russia was fabricating the truth about its military
intervention.
“There’s too much
disinformation going on,” Churkin said, using the exact words that had
previously been levelled against him.
Moscow doesn’t consider returning Yanukovych to power its responsibility, Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin has told the United Nations.
And that after reading a letter supposedly from Yanukovych asking Moscow to intervene.
The full text of US ambassador Samantha Power’s remarks to the emergency meeting of the UN security council is here.
“Listening to the representative of Russia,
one might think that Moscow had just become the rapid response arm of
the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights,” she began. “So many of the
assertions made this afternoon by the Russian Federation are without
basis in reality.”
Here Power begins to get more specific than in previous statements about the Russian military position in Crimea:
Let’s begin with a clear and candid assessment of the facts.
It is a fact that Russian military forces have taken over Ukrainian
border posts. It is a fact that Russia has taken over the ferry terminal
in Kerch. It is a fact that Russian ships are moving in and around
Sevastapol. It is a fact that Russian forces are blocking mobile
telephone services in some areas. It is a fact that Russia has
surrounded or taken over practically all Ukrainian military facilities
in Crimea. It is a fact that today Russian jets entered Ukrainian
airspace. It is also a fact that independent journalists continue to
report that there is no evidence of violence against Russian or
pro-Russian communities.
Russian military action is not a human rights protection mission. It
is a violation of international law and a violation of the sovereignty
and territorial integrity of the independent nation of Ukraine, and a
breach of Russia’s Helsinki Commitments and its UN obligations.
Merkel said Putin seemed open to an OSCE mission to Ukraine, but it appears Churkin, for the moment, isn’t:
#ukraine
UK's UN ambassador L.Grant asks Russia to confirm it accepts deployment
of OSCE mission to Ukraine. Russian representative refuses
— Gulliver Cragg (@gullivercragg) March 3, 2014
A wry moment in the UN meeting:
I'm also Russian speaking person, but I don't need any support- says Ukraine's amb to @UN & starts speaking Russian pic.twitter.com/0c3J23rVkg
— Maxim Eristavi (@MaximEristavi) March 3, 2014
At the time, the Russian envoy’s non-willingness to sign the 21 February agreement looked ominous. Now, with the Russians insisting on reverting to the agreement, it looks ominous in a different way.
#ukraine's
UN ambassador points out that Russian demands Ukraine return to 21 feb
agreement v.odd as Russia's representative didn't sign it
— Gulliver Cragg (@gullivercragg) March 3, 2014
Summary
• Russian forces in Crimea urged Ukrainian forces to give up their weapons and stand down, as the number of Russian troops and boats on the peninsula continued to grow. Russia built up forces on both sides of the ferry connecting it to Crimea and sent troops across. • “The facts on the ground in Crimea are deeply troubling,” US president Barack Obama said. “Russia is on the wrong side of history.” • A US state department spokesperson said any threat to use force by Russia would “constitute a dangerous escalation.” • Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev told US vice president Joe Biden the troops were there to protect Russians in Ukraine. • Pro-Russia demonstrators surrounded government buildings in at least three Ukrainian cities, hoisting Russian flags and chanting against the government in Kiev.
• Russia’s UN ambassador called an emergency security council meeting and read a letter he
said was from deposed Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich asking
Moscow to take military action. The performance came in for swingeing criticism. • The European Union called an emergency meeting for Thursday to discuss sanctions on Russia or Russian officials, visa restrictions and other measures, if there is not “a very quick deescalation.” • American officials took parallel efforts to draw up sanctions, which a state department spokesperson said were “highly likely.” • Markets took a dive, with Russia’s main stock index down almost 13% and the rouble off by 3% despite central bank efforts to shore it up. The Russian central bank hiked interest rates and said they may go higher.
• “This will be a costly proposition for Russia,” Obama said, “and now’s the time for them to consider whether they can further their interests with diplomacy as opposed to force.” • President Obama said he’d been getting a lot of advice from Congress and encouraged them to work with him on an assistance package for Ukraine.
• Obama supported a call by EU leaders for international mediation in Ukraine, possibly by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. • US secretary of state John Kerry announced plans to meet with Ukrainian government leaders in Kiev, although the precise timing of the trip is not yet known.
Updated
Swingeing criticism of the Russian military intervention in the
Crimea is continuing to pour out of the UN security council, writes Ed Pilkington (@EdPilkington), “with the
Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin listening impassively to the pasting
he is receiving”:
Gerard Araud, the
French ambassador, said the current
events reminded him of when he was 15, listening to the 1968 Soviet
invasion of Czechoslovakia. “Russia seems to be coming back to its
old ghosts playing an old fashioned role in an outdated setting,” Araud
said.
The UK representative to the UN, Sir Mark Lyall
Grant, put it more pithily: “The pretense is now over.” He accused
Russia of fabricating details of threats in Crimea to justify its
hostile actions and concluded: “This is not 1968
or 1956.”
The AP captures US ambassador Samantha Power’s zinger: “One might think that Moscow
has just become the rapid response arm of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights.”
16K fresh Russian troops have deployed in Crimea since Feb. 26 - Ukraine's amb to @UN Sergeyev pic.twitter.com/RwAtEnQ17K
— Maxim Eristavi (@MaximEristavi) March 3, 2014
#Sergeyev: Last December we made an agreement with #Russia which reduced number of their Black Sea fleet troops to 11K officers
— Myroslava Petsa (@myroslavapetsa) March 3, 2014
Updated
The Guardian’s Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) describes how Russia “is using a display of force combined with intense psychological pressure
in an attempt to disarm Ukrainian military units in Crimea,” according
to accounts of several confrontations relayed to the Guardian:
On
a day of confusion and rumours, Russian troops without insignia were
still surrounding almost every Ukrainian military installation in
Crimea, and an unsuccessful attempt was made to entice naval officers to
defect to the Russian side.
In one tense confrontation, one of
Russia’s most senior army officers told a group of angry Ukrainian
marines that he was carrying out Vladimir Putin’s instructions to disarm
Ukrainian forces. Igor Nikolayevich Turchinyuk told the marines at
Feodosia that he wanted them to lock their weapons in a warehouse and
surrender to Russian guards, according to an audiotape of the encounter
obtained by the Guardian.
Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenkostopped short in an interview with Christiane Amanpour Monday of calling for Western military intervention:
Amanpour asked Tymoshenko if she was calling for the West to use military force against Russia.
She would not directly answer the question, saying that she “cannot solve this issue,” but she issued an appeal to help Ukraine.
“I am asking all the world, personally every world leader, to use all
the possibilities in order to avoid Ukraine losing Crimea.”
Ed Pilkington reports from the emergency UN security council meeting that Vitaly Churkin, the Russian diplomatic representative at the UN,
has just shown the other members of the council what he claimed was a
letter from Viktor Yanukovich, the ousted president of Ukraine who is
now in exile in Russia.
In the letter, the former leader of the troubled
country calls on the Russian president Vladimir Putin to use his
military to invade parts of Ukraine. Churkin reads:
“As
the legitimate elected representative, I say the
events in Kiev have resulted in Ukraine being on the brink of civil war.
The rights of people in Crimea are being threatened. Under the
influence of Western countries, there are open acts of terror. I would
call on the president of Russia, Mr Putin, to use the armed forces of
the Russian Federation to establish peace and defend the people of
Ukraine.”
Samantha
Power, the US ambassador to the UN, has just taken the floor with this
acerbic riposte: “So many of the assertions made this
afternoon are without basis in reality”.
Updated
With Gazprom and related Russian concerns supplying about 30% of Europe’s gas through pipelines, how worried should Europe be about possible economic conflict with Russia?
The Guardian’s Jon Henley finds that many industry experts see “any number of reasons why Moscow’s
natural gas supplies may not prove quite the potent economic and
diplomatic weapon they once were”:
For starters, we are not now in early January but in March,
considered the final month of the continental European heating season,
when demand is likely to be highest. Moreover, this has been a
particularly mild winter – the mildest since 2008 – and higher than
normal temperatures are forecast to continue for several weeks yet,
significantly reducing demand for gas and leaving prices at their lowest
for two years. Energy market analysts at the French bank Société
Générale said in a briefing note last month that European gas demand in
2013 was at its lowest level since 1999. In the UK, gas consumption is
currently approaching a 12-year low.
Partly as a result of weaker demand, but also because since the first
“gas war” of 2006, many European countries have made huge efforts to
increase their gas storage capacity and stocks are high. Some countries,
such as Bulgaria, Slovakia and Moldova, which lack large storage
capacity and depend heavily on gas supplies via Ukraine, would certainly
suffer from any disruption in supplies. But Gas Infrastructure Europe
(GIE), which represents the gas infrastucture industry, estimated that
in late February European gas storage was 10 percentage points higher
than this time last year and about half full; the National Grid puts
Britain’s stocks at about 25 percentage points above the average for the
time of year.
The Guardian’s Ed Pilkington (@Edpilkington) is at United Nations headquarters for this afternoon’s emergency security council meeting, requested by Russia. Ed sends these observations:
Samantha Power, the US ambassador to
the UN, has just taken her seat in the UN security chamber for what
promises to be a tense meeting over Ukraine. The Russian ambassador,
Vitaly Churkin, is also in position sitting three seats to Power’s
right, and three seats to her left Ukraine has been allowed to attend as well.
The emergency session has been called
by Russia, though it is unclear yet what exactly Moscow hopes to
achieve from it. Nothing concrete is expected to emerge from the
meeting, as there are no motions on the table, but we can expect to
hear some forceful messages of displeasure around the horse-shoe
shaped table directed at Russia for its actions in the Crimea.
Caught on tape: 'Am I a terrorist?'
“Am I a terrorist?” That’s the question a Ukrainian marine had for a
Russian officer encouraging the Ukrainians to give up and yield their
weapons.
A recording obtained by the Guardian captures a
conversation between the officer, identified as Igor Turchinyuk (IT), a
Russian general, and unidentified Ukrainians (UU): IT “The goal of me coming here … is to carry out the task given by the president of the Russian Federation.” UU “What is this? Is it an invasion? Is it a forced peace operation?” IT
“It was a request to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin to offer help and
bring troops in. (noting he has family roots in Ukraine) I want to talk
as one officer to other officers.” UU “Am I a terrorist? Are we causing a threat to the Black Sea fleet of Russia?” IT “We have an order, which we are carrying out.”
Read the full conversation here.
Updated
A European diplomat tells Guardian Washington correspondent Paul Lewis (@PaulLewis) that there may be some daylight between the US thinking on sanctions and the EU version. “I expect we will not be 100% in line with the suggestions made by the US so far in relation to sanctions,” the source said:
In
the EU there are all sorts of different views about how the problem
should be tackled. We might be of the opinion that in order to keep
talks with Russian open, we should not yet resort to sanctions at such
an early stage.”
The source added that the consequences of
imposing sanctions are less severe for the US than in the EU, which is
significantly more reliant upon Russian trade and gas exports. Japan, a
key member of the G8 group of western nations, is also believed to be
anxious about punitive measures that could harm the wider global
economy.
Suspect growing (though behind-the-scenes) disagreement between Washington and the EU over sanctions against Russia: http://t.co/ZmU48UIpk2
— Paul Lewis (@PaulLewis) March 3, 2014
Earlier today US senator Chris Murphy acknowledged that unilateral US sanctions against Russia will have little effect if they are not matched by actions from Europe.
Updated
Russians are sharply divided over Vladimir Putin’s military
manoeuvres in Crimea, writes Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) in Moscow, “with competing rallies in Moscow
and furious arguments on social media.”
“But experts say most people will probably support the government
line, since a majority views Crimea as part of Russia – and the transfer
of power in Ukraine as a western-backed coup”:
Denis Volkov, of the independent polling organisation Levada Centre,
said that although in the past most Russians opposed military
intervention in other countries, the fact that no open conflict had
broken out in Crimea thus far made the Russian move easier to justify.
“Many see Putin as the one who returned some of Russia’s strengths
[after the Soviet breakup], and I think he will use this idea of the
loss of the Soviet Union to drum up support with Crimea,” Volkov said.
Read the full piece here. The Guardian’s Alan Yuhas flags a counterpoint: in a Russian poll
conducted on 24 February by the frequently pro-Kremlin group WCIOM, 73%
of respondents thought “Russia should not intervene in authorities and
the opposition
in Ukraine, because it’s an internal matter for the country’s people.”
Updated
Obama: 'facts on the ground deeply troubling'
US president Barack Obama has addressed the situation in
Ukraine in the Oval Office following a meeting with the Israeli prime
minister. The vice president and secretary of state were also in the
room.
Obama
said he expected to work with Congress on a package of economic
assistance to the Ukraine and warned Russia of worldwide isolation if it
persisted with its aggression, reports the Guardian’s Dan Roberts (@RobertsDan).
“The
strong condemnation that Russia has received around the world indicates
the degree to which Russia is on the wrong side of history,” Obama said in
brief remarks to reporters during a meeting with the Israeli prime
minister. Dan has more of the president’s remarks:
“The
world is largely united in recognising the steps Russia has taken” are a
“violation of international law” and “previous agreements that Russia
has made,” Obama said.
“What cannot be done is for Russia with
impunity to put its soldiers on the ground and violate basic principles
that are recognised around the world.” Obama added that if Russia
continues on present path, the US will take a “series of steps —
economic, diplomatic — that will isolate Russia.”
“We should be able to de-escalate the situation,” Obama said.
If
in fact [Russia’s] concern is that the rights of all Ukrainians are
respected... [that] Russian speakers are not harmed... then we should be
able to set up international monitors, an international effort that
mediates between parties... in a way that is satisfactory to the
Ukrainian people, not the United States...
Obama
mentioned the previously floated idea for a mediating force under the
auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
“There are really two paths the Russians can take at this point,” the president continued:
The facts on the ground in Crimea are deeply troubling, and Russia has a large army that borders Ukraine.
But
what is also true is that over time, this will be a costly proposition
for Russia, and now’s the time for them to consider whether they can
further their interests with diplomacy as opposed to force.
“I’ve
heard a lot from Congress about what should be be done. One thing they
can do is to work with the administration to provide assistance to
Ukrainians and the government...
At this point there should be
unanimity among Democrats and Republicans that when it comes to
preserving that principle, that no country has a right to send in troops
into another country unprovoked...
“My expectation is that I’ll be able to get Congress to work with us,” the president concluded.
Updated
The Guardian’s Alan Yuhas has a roundup of recommended commentary and analysis on the situation in Ukraine. “The big question, of course, is what happens next, and it is a messy one,” Alan writes:
Very few people involved (and Putin probably
isn’t one of them) see this as a “cold war chess match”; ethnic
divisions in Ukraine (like everywhere else) don’t boil down to something
as basic as “pro-Russian in the east and pro-European in the west”:
most of the country speaks both languages, plenty of ethnic Russians are
pro-European, and important minorities, such as the Tatars, have a
voice in this, too. The US and Europe are hardly powerless, but their
options are limited.
Read Alan’s roundup here. He includes Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Centre, writing for the Guardian that Putin’s endgame likely involves controlling the story and rebalancing Russia’s role in the world:
Over the last 10 days, Moscow has been unpleasantly surprised
several times … The new official Ukrainian narrative, it was feared in
Moscow, would change from the post-Soviet “Ukraine is not Russia” to
something like “Ukraine in opposition to Russia”.
Moscow now has two options: a confederacy between Crimea and
Ukraine and Crimea’s full integration into the Russian Federation (a
relevant law is being adjusted to allow this).
Even if there is no war, the Crimea crisis is likely to alter
fundamentally relations between Russia and the west and lead to changes
in the global power balance, with Russia now in open competition with
the United States and the European Union.
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu is meeting with president Barack Obama at the White House.
Obama has said that Russia’s steps in Ukraine are a violation of international law and Ukrainian sovereignty and said that he wants to see the Ukrainian people determining their own destiny.
Obama said Russia is “on the wrong side of history,” according to multiple reporters in the room, including a Haaretz correspondent:
More than six hours after the first reports of pro-Russian forces taking over regional government buildings in eastern and southern Ukraine, Oksana Grytsenko (@grytsenko_o) sends this update on the situation in Donetsk, Lugansk and Odessa.
Acting Ukrainian president Oleksandr Turchynov claimed a short time ago
that Ukrainian forces had restored control in the south and east, but
the reports could not be immediately verified and it was unclear whether
he was referring specifically to the takeover of government buildings.
Oksana reports on the takeovers. In Donetsk:
At about
midday, some 100 people broke into the building of Donetsk regional administration
from the back door and hoisted Russian flag atop the building. Several
hundred people were also waving Russian flags and proclaiming separatists slogans
at the square by administration.
“The
separatists announced creation of their own regional administration headed by
Pavel Hubarev,” Oleksiy Matsuka, editor-in-chief of Novosti Donbassa local
newspaper, told the Guardian. Matsuka added that some of those people were
definitely the Russian nationals. “They even didn’t deny this fact,” he said.
In Lugansk in
the morning, some 400 people broke into the local administration waving
Russian flags and also the flags of the Russkoye Edinstvo pro-Russian
block. The captors claimed they didn’t recognize Kiev’s authority and
called on Putin to bring Russian troops to Ukraine.
In Odessa:
A
crowd of an estimated 3,000 pro-Russian demonstrators rallied outside a
government building in the port city of Odessa. Led by head of
“People’s alternative” Anton Davydchenko, the crowd chanted
“Referendum!” They broke into a session of local parliament, smashed
windows and injured a prosecution worker, according to a local report. The demonstrators hung a Russian flag and an Odessa city flag atop the building.
Dozens
of mostly young people from the far-right Pravy Sector came later in
the day, demanding the demonstrators leave the building and remove the
Russian flag. Hundreds of pro-Kiev activists later joined them. The
police separated the two rival groups. Odessa governor Mykola Syrotiok
held negotiations with representatives of both sides behind closed
doors, Dumskaya.net reported.
After a day in which it spent $10bn to defend the rouble, and with
talk of sanctions growing, the Russian central bank has announced its
intention to insert itself further in currency exchanges.
Russian central bank official Ksenia Yudayeva said the bank still has “lots of room” to raise interest
rates, Reuters reports:
The bank raised its key lending rate by 150 basis points on Monday to 7 percent in an attempt to stem capital flight.
“We still have lots of room to raise interest rates ... and we can
further increase our presence in the currency market,” Yudayeva said in
an interview on the Rossiya-24 news channel.
Both the United States and Europe are signalling clearly that they are moving to put sanctions on Russian in place.
“At this point we are not just considering sanctions given the
actions Russia is taking, it is likely we will put those in place and we
are preparing that,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told
reporters on a conference call, Reuters reported. “We have a broad range of options
available.”
US sanctions would have little effect if not matched by Europe, a key US senator acknowledged. European leaders, for their part, have called an emergency meeting for Thursday to discuss sanctions, including, in the words
of French foreign minister Laurent Fabius, “concrete measures such as
the suspension of all talks on visas, suspension of economic agreements
and... ties cut on lot of subjects.”
The Polish foreign minister
has confirmed to Reuters that the meeting Thursday in Brussels will be
to consider sanctions on Russia.
Extraordinary summit of EU Presidents & Prime Ministers called for Thursday to help de-escalate situation in #Ukrainehttp://t.co/Zklvk5KPEL
— Herman Van Rompuy (@euHvR) March 3, 2014
Update: EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the EU would give Russia
until the Thursday show clear signs of goodwill, including a willingness
to open talks and a withdrawal of Russian troops to their barracks in
the Crimea, the Associated Press reports:
“The ambition is to see the situation improve. If it doesn’t, then the
course is set,” Ashton said after the foreign ministers’ meeting.
She said she will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday in Madrid.
Updated
Ukrainian acting president Oleksandr Turchynov has accused Russia of escalating the military standoff in Crimea, including by ringing in Ukrainian ships and continuing to build its troop presence.
While
Ukrainian authorities have managed to restore control in the south and
east, Turchynov says, the situation remains difficult, and the Russian
Black Sea fleet has blocked Ukrainian navy ships around Sevastopol. He
appealed to Russia to stop “aggression and piracy,” Reuters reports.
Russia’s forces in Crimea keep growing, Turchynov is quoted as saying. Olexander Turchynov, speaker of the
parliament (L) and Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk hold a
presser after special session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on March
2, 2014 in Kiev, Ukraine. Photograph: Kommersant Photo/Kommersant via
Getty Images
Simultaneous to Turchynov’s remarks, US state department spokeswoman
Jen Psaki said in a briefing that if reports that Russia has threatened
to use force against the Ukrainian military are true – see our reporting on the existence or not of a reported ultimatum – it would be a dangerous escalation of the situation in Ukraine, Reuters reports:
“These
reports today of threats of force against Ukrainian military
installations would, if true, in our view constitute a dangerous
escalation of the situation for which we would hold Russia directly
responsible,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters in a
conference call.
Psaki further said that the United
States would hold Russia directly responsible if it has threatened use
of force against the Ukrainian military.
Updated
European Union leaders will meet in Brussels for an emergency summit on
Ukraine on Thursday, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said
on Monday. Reuters reports:
EU leaders “will discuss the latest developments in Ukraine and how
to facilitate the necessary de-escalation of the situation.”
Further international sanctions against Russia are “highly likely”, according to US state department spokesperson Jen Psaki. Guardian Washington bureau chief Dan Roberts (@RobertsDan) reports:
“If
they continue on the path they are taking, we will continue to take
steps too,” she said. “At this point, we are not just considering
sanctions; we are preparing options right now.”
“We are far more forward down this path than we were yesterday,” she said.
U.S. senator Chris Murphy, the chairman of the Senate’s Europe subcommittee, said the body is considering imposing sanctions on Russia’s banks,
freezing assets of Russian public institutions and private investors
and imposing travel bans because of its moves in Ukraine, Reuters
reports.
Unilateral U.S. sanctions against Russia will have little effect if they are not matched by actions from Europe, Murphy advised.
Updated
Earlier today, an Interfax report that the Russian military had issued an ultimatum to Ukrainian forces was denied as “complete nonsense” by the Russian defense ministry.
Now the US State Department said it had no “independent information or
verification” about a reported Russian ultimatum, Guardian Washington bureau chief Dan Roberts (@RobertsDan) reports:
“These reports of threats of force.. would, if true, constitute
a dangerous escalation of the situation that we would hold the Russians
directly responsible for,” said spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
“The international community has been very unified
in the steps we have taken, either through the G7, Nato or the OSCE, and
we will look at taking [further] steps as well.”
The Guardian’s Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7)
writes that while reports of a blanket ultimatum applying to the
Ukrainian military posture as a whole should be taken with a generous
grain of salt, it should “also be remembered that there have been
ultimatums at all bases, including the one I was inside at Feodosia
yesterday. They were ignored, and nothing happened.”
Kyiv Post
editor Christopher Miller reports personally hearing an ultimatum
delivered from a Russian ship to a Ukrainian force near what appears to
be Slavutych recreation camp in Alushta, Crimea:
Despite what Russian Defense Ministry says, those of us who were there heard this ship deliver ultimatum to Slavutych pic.twitter.com/fuf0enF19O
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) March 3, 2014
Updated
The White House has canceled a presidential delegation to
the Paralympic Games in Sochi, Russia, National Security Council spokesman
Caitlin Hayden said in a statement on Monday, quoted by Reuters.
U.S. athletes will participate in the games, which begin on Friday. We’ll have more shortly.
Update: Read our news story here.
Updated
US secretary of state John Kerry has just delivered remarks at the state department on his meeting with Moldovan prime minister Iurie Leanca. Moldova shares a long border with southwestern Ukraine.
Kerry said he would visit Kiev tomorrow. He used the appearance to get some digs in at Russia.
Kerry praised the “leadership that [Leanca] and his government are providing.”
“While
I was in Moldova I had occasion to visit a really quite remarkable
winery,” Kerry said, an underground facility that represented activity
that could rejuvenate the economy.
“There are challenges,” Kerry
said. “I regret to say that Russia... has put pressure on Moldova.. with
respect to their energy sources and also their ability to trade.”
Kerry
said talks would continue, especially about the situation in Ukraine:
“We will also obviously talk about their neighborhood, the region... I
look forward to a very constructive conversation.”
Summary
• The Russian military presence in Crimea continued to build, with troops massing outside Ukrainian military facilities, patrol boats sighted and Russian forces establishing control of both sides of the Kerch channel separating Crimea from Russia.
• The Russian foreign ministry warned that Nato criticism of its activity in Crimea “will not help stabilise the situation in Ukraine.” On Sunday Nato said it “condemns the Russian Federation’s military escalation in Crimea.” • US vice president Joe Biden, in a call with Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, urged Russia to pull back its forces. Medvedev said it was necessary to protect all Russians including those in Ukraine. • Russia has requested athird emergency meeting of the UN security council over the crisis in Ukraine. • The French foreign minister said European leaders could meet as early as Thursday to initiate targeted sanctions against Russian officials “If there is not in the coming hours a very quick de-escalation.” • EU leaders proposed mediation, possibly by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. • US secretary of state John Kerry announced plans to meet with Ukrainian government leaders in Kiev, although the precise timing of the trip is not yet known. • Russian market indexes plummeted and the central bank sold $10bn in an effort to stop a slide of the rouble. The Russian gas company Gazprom projected that European consumption of Russian gas would grow but a European report said it would not. • UK foreign secretary William Hague visited Kiev Monday. A UK government briefing ruled out military action in Ukraine. • German chancellor Angela Merkel told US president Barack Obama in a phone call that after speaking with Russian president Vladimir Putin, she feared he may be “in another world.” • The Obama administration came under fire from Washington hawks including Senator John McCain for not displaying what they said would be a stronger posture.
French foreign minister Laurent Fabius warns Russia that “targeted measures” by the EU such as suspended visas and trade talks could come soon. He mentions a possible Thursday meeting. Reuters quotes Fabius:
“If there is not in the coming hours a very quick de-escalation,
then we will decide concrete measures such as the suspension of all
talks on visas, suspension of economic agreements and concretely that
means that ties will be cut on lot of subjects,” Laurent Fabius told BFM
TV.
“There could be targeted measures and that can also affect people,
officials and their assets,” he said, adding that EU leaders could hold a
crisis meeting on the stand-off on Thursday.
“The general tone is that the Russians appear to have decided to go even further. Europe must be firm.”
Updated
Gazprom to Europe: You need us.
Russian state gas company Gazprom, which supplies more than a quarter of Europe’s gas needs, says that Europe will become even more dependent on Gazprom’s supplies in years to come,
despite calls for sanctions against Moscow over the Ukraine crisis. Reuters reports:
With its stock down more than 13 percent amid market jitters over
the stability of Russian gas flows via Ukraine, Gazprom’s management was
upbeat as it held its annual meeting with investors in London.
“Gazprom has increased its share in European markets because
Europe’s domestic production has fallen in countries such as Britain and
Norway ... we see no signals that the situation in Europe will change,”
Gazprom deputy head Alexander Medvedev said.
Gazprom cut exports twice to Ukraine over the past decade amid pricing disputes
with Kiev.
Earlier today Reuters reported that Gazprom had warned Ukraine that it may increase the gas price for Kiev after the first quarter.
UPDATE: A Bernstein Research report Monday directly contradicts the assertion that Europe’s dependence on Russian gas is growing, Reuters reports:
A mild winter and improved infrastructure mean Europe and Ukraine are
less reliant on Russian natural gas than in past years, easing worries
that the escalating crisis in Ukraine could hurt supplies.
“Low utilisation means Ukraine’s gas network is of lesser importance
today than in the past,” Bernstein Research said on Monday in a
research note.
But analysts warned that a further improvement of the gas infrastructure was still needed.
“Risks for Europe exist always, that is why it should pursue even
more diversification projects further and develop liquefied natural gas
(LNG) markets and new connectors in central and southeastern European
regions,” said Anna Bulakh of the International Centre for Defence
Studies.
UPDATE: on the monetary side, Russia’s
central bank has confirmed that it is selling dollars to prop up the
rouble and that its main fight after markets stabilise will be against
inflation:
Traders estimated the central bank sold in excess of $10 billion on
Monday to prop up the rouble, which traded at all-time lows against the
dollar and the euro. The rouble closed 2.2 percent down versus the
dollar.
“In connection with the non-standard situation, the central bank has
increased on March 3 its presence on the foreign exchange market,” the
bank’s press service said in a statement.
Updated
No ultimatum, says the Russian defence ministry, via Vedemosti.
A snap partial translation:
Russia’s defence ministry has denied information that they have given Ukrainian forces in Crimea an ultimatum.
An official defence ministry called the original agency
statement about the ultimatum “complete nonsense”, and said no such
ultimatum had been given to the Ukrainian military in Crimea.
Hawkish Republican senator John McCain
blamed what he called the “feckless foreign policy” of the
Obama administration as a partial cause of events in the Ukraine
during a speech to lobbyists at the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee in Washington on Monday, Guardian Washington bureau chief Dan Roberts (@RobertsDan) reports:
“What happens in Ukraine is directly
related to what happens in the Middle East,” he said, pointing
Obama’s failure to take military action in Syria and relaxation of
sanctions against Iran as signs of weakness seized on by Putin.
The Arizona senator and former
presidential candidate said president Obama “believes the Cold
War is over - that’s fine, it’s over - but Putin doesn’t believe it’s
over”.
McCain also claimed Putin was deliberately waiting
until the end of the Olympics to crack down on Ukraine dissent.
“The people went out by the hundreds
of thousands and said they did not want to be part of Putin’s Russia
and that’s what it’s all about, and now immediately after the Sochi
games we see the occupation of Crimea,” he told the Aipac
conference.
Updated
Russia has requested a third emergency meeting of the UN security council over
the crisis in Ukraine. The meeting is scheduled to begin in about four
hours, according to a Luxembourg diplomat who spoke with Reuters:
The council met on Friday and Saturday to discuss the crisis in
eastern Ukraine but took no formal action, as expected. Both meetings
highlighted the deep divisions between the United States and other
Western nations and Russia, which has a major Black Sea naval base in
the Crimea region.
Updated
German chancellor Angela Merkel told US president Barack Obama that she thought Russian president Vladimir Putin may be “in another world.”
“She
was not sure he was in touch with reality, people briefed on the call
said. ‘In another world,’ she said,” the New York Times reported.
The Guardian’s Ian Traynor and Patrick Wintour write:
Read our latest news story on diplomatic maneuvering here.
The Russian foreign ministry warns that Nato criticism of Russia “will not help stabilise the situation in Ukraine”.
“We believe that such a position will not help stabilise the
situation in Ukraine and only encourages those forces that would like to
use the current events to achieve their irresponsible political goals,”
the Russian foreign ministry said, according to Reuters.
Here’s what Nato said Sunday:
The North Atlantic Council
condemns the Russian Federation’s military escalation in Crimea and
expresses its grave concern regarding the authorisation by the Russian
Parliament to use the armed forces of the Russian Federation on the
territory of Ukraine.
Updated
US vice-president Joe Biden and Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev have spoken by phone, Interfax reports.
Medvedev spoke about a need “to protect” Russians in Ukraine, Reuters quotes Medvedev spokeswoman Natalya Timakova as saying:
Medvedev “declared that it is necessary to protect the interests of
all Ukrainian citizens, including residents of Crimea, and citizens of
Russia who are located in Ukraine”.
UPDATE: Here now is the view on that conversation from the US, from a White House spokesman via Reuters. In this version, Biden urged Russia to pull its forces back from Ukraine:
“The
Vice President urged Russia to pull back its forces, support the
immediate deployment of international monitors to Ukraine, and begin a
meaningful political dialogue with the Ukrainian government,” the White
House said in a statement released later on Monday.
He is not that senior but says he’s on a base right now and neither he
nor the base commanders have heard anything of the sort. He said: “It’s
probably another red herring to stir up trouble.”
Also, it seems to be
coming from Russian interfax, quoting Ukrainian Interior Ministry. That
should ring some alarm bells, folks.
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) March 3, 2014
UPDATE: Oksana Grytsenko
called a Ukrainian navy spokesman, who told her “as far as I know” an
ultimatum “has been voiced”, but he referred to a different time for the
ultimatum than originally reported by Interfax, which – conflicting
times for the assigned zero-hour – would seem to undercut the whole
point of an ultimatum. Oksana reports for the Guardian:
I
spoke to Oleg Chubuk, spokesman of Ukraine’s naval forces. “As far as I
know, the ultimatum has been voiced for 18 p.m., with a demand that
Ukraine’s soldiers surrender arms,” he said, adding that the timing
could have changed. “Ukraine’s sailors don’t yield the provocations,
guns are under control,” he said.
Asked how would they react to
“a real storm”, Chubuk said “they must act according to statute”,
meaning defend their stations. But he hoped the storm would not happen.
Updated
On 2 bases today, told
Russian troops asking Ukrainians not to defect to Crimean authorities
but to join *Russian* troops. Huge distinction.
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) March 3, 2014
To clarify that last
tweet, they are being asked to join Crimean forces or "Crimean people"
too, but first demand is for defection to Russia
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) March 3, 2014
European Union foreign ministers have agreed to suspend talks with
Russia on visa issues because of Russia’s seizure of Crimea, a draft of a
statement to be issued later on Monday said, Reuters reports.
Russia
and the European Union have been discussing visa cooperation since
2007, with Russia keen to have visa-free access to the EU’s member
states. It is an issue raised at nearly every meeting between Moscow and
Brussels.
“The EU has decided to suspend bilateral talks with
Russian authorities on visa matters, as well as on the new agreement,” a
draft of statement to be issued by EU foreign ministers said.
Interfax is quoting a Ukrainian defence ministry source as saying
the Russian fleet has given Ukrainian forces in Crimea until 3am GMT to
surrender or face “storm”.
This needs to be treated with caution given the only source is an unnamed official.
UPDATE: The Russian defence ministry denies any such ultimatum.
From Reuters:
The ultimatum, Interfax said, was issued by Alexander Vitko, the fleet’s commander.
The
ministry did not immediately confirm the report and there was no
immediate comment by the Black Sea Fleet, which has a base in Crimea,
where Russian forces are in control.
“If they do not surrender
before 5 am tomorrow, a real assault will be started against units and
divisions of the armed forces across Crimea,” the agency quoted the
ministry source as saying.
RUSSIAN FORCES POSE ULTIMATUM Commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet Alexander Vitko posed an ultimatum to the... http://t.co/GA67x84sLg
— Euromaidan PR (@EuromaidanPR) March 3, 2014
Updated
The people of Crimea are to be asked in a referendum whether Crimea
should move on to Moscow time, the Russian state news agency Itar Tass
is reporting, citing Crimean parliamentary speaker Vladimir
Konstantinov. An independence referendum is scheduled for 30 March.
Moscow has sharply criticised western members of the G8 major
industrialised nations for suspending preparations for a G8 summit
scheduled to be held in the Russian city of Sochi in June over the
crisis in Ukraine, Reuters reports:
The
decision to suspend preparatory work for the summit in the Black Sea
resort city of Sochi “has no grounds” and “damages not only the
countries of the group of Eight but also the whole international
community,” the Russian foreign ministry said.
Video has been posted online of the extraordinary meeting
at which Rear Admiral Denis Berezovsky, who defected to the
Russian-supported Crimean authorities, one day after being appointed
Ukrainian navy commander-in-chief, tried unsuccessfully to persuade
other officers to follow in his footsteps. At the meeting he was
denounced as a traitor by his replacement as navy chief commander,
Serhiy Haiduk.
Journalist Graham Phillips is in Odessa, where pro-Russian
demonstrators have surrounded the city hall. But they have been
confronted by people supporting the Kiev government.
The Russian foreign ministry has said that recent remarks by US
secretary of state John Kerry contained threats against Russia and were
“unacceptable” (via Reuters).
On Sunday, Kerry condemned what he called Russia’s “incredible act of aggression”
in Ukraine after Russian forces took control of the Crimea region and
parliament gave President Vladimir Putin consent to send the military
into Ukraine.
Svetlana
Goncharova, 50, who works as a librarian at the Ukrainian base at
Perevalnoye, said she was there in the hope that her presence would
prevent violence.
“We are standing here with our boys. The
situation is beyond all bounds,” she said. “Maybe if they see that
civilians are standing here with the men, no one will raise weapons.”
...
“Half of us are Russians here. My grandfather was a Soviet
army officer, my father was a colonel, my husband is a retired Ukrainian
officer - we are all ex-military, our fate is all intertwined. They are
welcome as guests, but when they came to us in army boots, it angers
us,” said Goncharova.
Her words immediately sparked objections
from some of the other women, who defended the Russians. “They don’t
upset us. They are here to protect us. They are standing here
peacefully,” said Irina Fedusova.
“We don’t want a second
‘Maidan’ like Kiev,” she said of the protest movement that toppled the
pro-Russia president, named after Kiev’s central Independence Square.
“We won’t allow it ... We want Crimea to decide its own fate and not for
anyone to dictate our fate.”
Ukrainian soldiers (L) stand guard behind a
gate as armed men in military uniform, believed to be Russian soldiers,
stand outside the territory of a Ukrainian military unit in the village
of Perevalnoye, outside Simferopol, Ukraine, 3 March 2014. Photograph:
Max
Here are some images from today from Ukrainian military bases where Russian troops are present.
Another day, another ukraine navy base blocked by Russian troops, in Sevastopol. Officers inside say nyet? pic.twitter.com/aUuvJCljdD
— William Booth (@BoothWilliam) March 3, 2014
Hello again russian soldiers. This time ringing Feodosiya ukrainian base. Crowds hostile pic.twitter.com/pOqrfZwfm7
— briangingaje (@brianging) March 3, 2014
Some of the troops at bakhchisarai, who are *still* not identifying themselves as Russians, have serious weaponry... pic.twitter.com/KOkWX6TGit
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) March 3, 2014
European Union foreign ministers will push on Monday for high-level
mediation to resolve the crisis over Russia’s invasion of Crimea, while
threatening the possibility of sanctions if Russia does not back down, Reuters reports:
In emergency talks convened after Russian President Vladimir Putin
seized the Crimean peninsula and said he had the right to invade
Ukraine, ministers will try to strike a balance between pressure on
Moscow and finding a way to calm the situation.
Germany, France
and Britain, the EU’s most-powerful nations, are all advocating
mediation to resolve the crisis, possibly via the Organisation for
Security and Cooperation in Europe, while not ruling out economic
measures if Moscow does not cooperate.
“Crisis diplomacy is not a
weakness but it will be more important than ever to not fall into the
abyss of military escalation,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier told reporters as he arrived for the talks in Brussels.
My colleague Andrew Sparrow has full details on his UK politics blog of the government briefing on Ukraine.
A few key points are: • Military action was ruled out.
•
The government spokesman suggested that Britain could support the
sending of an
international fact-finding mission, or a contact group, to Ukraine.
There have been suggestions that the Organisation for Security and
Cooperation in Europe could play a role, he said. Germany is very keen on a contact group being established
and Russian president Vladimir Putin was reportedly receptive to the
idea when asked about it by German chancellor Angela Merkel.
• Downing Street rejected suggestions that Britain
was being less belligerent than the US because of the fear that Russia
could retaliate by cutting off gas supplies to Europe.
Updated
Ukrainian soldiers talk with military
personnel standing guard outside their base in Perevelnoye. Photograph:
Maxim Shipenkov/EPA
Updated
A Reuters reporter in a press centre on the fourth floor of the
regional government building in east Ukraine’s city of Donetsk said
protesters have seized the first floor but were unable to go higher
because lifts were disabled and stairwell doors shut.
The
11-storey building has been flying the Russian flag, rather than the
Ukrainian flag, for three days, with demonstrators carrying Russian
flags staging rallies outside.
Pro-Kremlin accounts say this is a video of anti-Kiev protesters breaking into the Donetsk government building https://t.co/L9r7zeNCxr
— max seddon (@maxseddon) March 3, 2014
This Guardian video shows the UK foreign secretary, William Hague, laying a
bouquet of flowers at Kiev’s Independence Square, where slain
demonstrators are being commemorated.
Updated
There are reports of pro-Russian protesters storming government buildings in Donetsk (confirmed by Reuters) and Odessa.
This pro-Russian site claims pro-Russian protesters are storming government buildings in Odessa http://t.co/ifKQSg99vX
— Leonid Ragozin (@leonidragozin) March 3, 2014
The Guardian’s chief political correspondent, Nick Watt, says that
David Cameron will outline a range of economic sanctions against Russia,
including slowing down visas for Russian business people, at a meeting
of the UK national security council this afternoon.
PM to outline range of economic + financial sanctions against Russia at meeting of UK National Security Council 3pm Monday
— Nicholas Watt (@nicholaswatt) March 3, 2014
PM to tell UK national
security council an emergency European summit could be held by end of
week to agree EU sanctions against Russia
— Nicholas Watt (@nicholaswatt) March 3, 2014
PM to tell NSC: sanctions could involve slowing visas for Russian business people and dialling down economic cooperation
— Nicholas Watt (@nicholaswatt) March 3, 2014
A unit of pro-Russian volunteers outside a Ukrainian military base in Perevalnoye. Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Updated
The United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-Moon said he will ask
Russia, via foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, to refrain from any acts or
rhetoric that would further escalate the crisis in Ukraine and instead
seek dialogue with authorities in Kiev. He added that his deputy would
“convey the same message to Ukrainian authorities”.
Ban told a news conference in Geneva shortly before holding talks with Lavrov:
It
is now of utmost importance to restore calm and to de-escalate tensions
immediately through dialogue. I will urge that the Russian Federation
refrain from any acts and rhetoric that could further escalate the
situation and instead to engage constructively and through peaceful
means with Ukraine.
Updated
Pro-Russian forces have taken over a Ukrainian coastguard base in Baklava.
Coast Guard base in Balaklava taken by pro-#Russia forces. Few guys out front w/ shields, mismatched uniforms, irregulars. #Crimea#Ukraine
— Alexander Marquardt (@MarquardtA) March 3, 2014
Baklava coastguard base
The Ukrainian defence ministry says that Russian fighter jets violated its airspace during the night (via Reuters).
It
says Ukrainian forces scrambled a Sukhoi SU-27 interceptor aircraft,
preventing any “provocative actions” during two violations of its
airspace.
Updated
Here are some more details of that extraordinary meeting where the
recently appointed Ukrainian navy commander-in-chief, Rear Admiral Denis
Berezovsky, who announced on Sunday that he was defecting to the
Russian-supported Crimean authorities, tried to persuade other officers
to defect. Shaun Walker, in Simferopol, and Graham Stack, in Sevastopol , writes:
At
Ukraine’s naval command on Monday morning, officers lined up in the
yard of their Sevastopol headquarters to be addressed by both Berezovsky
and the newly appointed navy chief commander, Serhiy Haiduk.
The
officers broke into applause as Haiduk read them an order from Kiev
removing Berezovsky from his position, and told them that Berezovsky was
facing treason charges. When Haiduk had finished his dry but compelling
address, the officers spontaneously broke into the national anthem, and
some were seen to cry. Berezovsky showed no visible sign of emotion ...
The
officers listened sullenly as Berezovsky tried to entice them over to
the newly proclaimed Crimean fleet he now heads – assuring them they
would retain their ranks and there would be no interruption of salary
payments.
“Viktor Yanukovych is the legitimately elected president
of Ukraine,” he told them, arguing there would be no breach of oath if
they served Crimea. “The seizure of power in Kiev was orchestrated from
abroad.”
When Berezovsky requested questions from the officers, a
chorus of criticism broke from the ranks. “In what way exactly did
foreign powers intervene in Kiev, compared to the way they are
intervening now in Crimea?” asked an officer to applause from those
assembled. “Don’t ask provocative questions,” Berezovsky barked back.
Updated
Russia is continuing to block telephone services in some areas of Crimea, a Euromaidan activist claims.
Channels of communications still being blocked in Crimea,says national provider Ukrtelecom. #crimeanInvasion
— Kateryna_Kruk (@Kateryna_Kruk) March 3, 2014
Russia’s central bank has sold up to $10bn, or 2% of its gold and
foreign exchange reserves, to stem the rouble’s fall today, Moscow
foreign exchange dealers estimated, via Reuters.
The central bank releases its interventions in foreign exchange markets only with a two-day lag. At 10.50am GMT the rouble was trading 2.1% down against the dollar on the day at 36.49.
Updated
The UK foreign secretary, William Hague, has held talks with
Ukrainian leaders in Kiev and pledged £10m of financial assistance but
said Britain was not considering military intervention.
Have held talks in Kyiv with Acting President Turchynov and Prime Minister Yatsenyuk. UK will stand by gov and people of #Ukraine
— William Hague (@WilliamJHague) March 3, 2014
UK will give £10m of urgent technical help for economic + political reform in #Ukraine. British team arriving in Kyiv today to work on this
— William Hague (@WilliamJHague) March 3, 2014
UK foreign secretary @WilliamJHague stresses UK not considering any kind of military option on Ukraine but diplomatic & economic measures
— Gulliver Cragg (@gullivercragg) March 3, 2014
#ukraine
Yatseniuk admits ukrainian military apparatus is in bad shape: accuses
Yanuk of undermining it in co-operation with "a neighbour"
— Gulliver Cragg (@gullivercragg) March 3, 2014
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague looked v. relieved when Yats said #Ukraine not currently looking for foreign military intervention!
— Gulliver Cragg (@gullivercragg) March 3, 2014
Updated
A Ukrainian BBC video shows pro-Russian troops seizing the Ukrainian navy HQ in Sevastopol, Crimea.
The Russian prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, has ordered construction of a bridge to Crimea, it is being reported.
Russian wires reporting
that PM Dmitry Medvedev issued an order to build a bridge across the
Kerch straights linking Russia and Crimea.
— Laura Mills (@lauraphylmills) March 3, 2014
Strait of Kerch, where Russia orders to build a bridge, is the only place of direct Crimea link w/ Russia pic.twitter.com/gsmRDS90ZP
— Maxim Eristavi (@MaximEristavi) March 3, 2014
Updated
The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has been addressing the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. According to Russia Today,
he said Russia’s decision to allow troops to be sent to Ukraine is
meant to deter radicals from using violence in the country and to
facilitate reconciliation.
Lavrov said:
We
call for a responsible approach, to put aside geopolitical
calculations, and above all to put the interests of the Ukrainian people
first ...
I reiterate, we are talking here about protection of
our citizens and compatriots, about protection of the most fundamental
of the human rights – the right to live, and nothing more.
Those
who try to interpret the situation as an act of aggression, threaten us
with sanctions and boycotts, are the same partners who have been
consistently and vigorously encouraging the political powers close to
them to declare ultimatums and renounce dialogue, to ignore the concerns
of the south and east of Ukraine and consequently to the polarisation
of the Ukrainian society.
He also urged all sides to
stand by the 21 February agreement on constitutional reforms between
Viktor Yanukovych and opposition leaders brokered by the west, before
Yanukovych was ousted.
Updated
Ousted president Viktor Yanukovych now has a “wanted” profile on the Ukrainian interior ministry’s website.
Yanukovych's "wanted" profile is on Ukraine's Interior Ministry website now. Surreal still. pic.twitter.com/6mNwSF9ygk
— Maxim Eristavi (@MaximEristavi) March 3, 2014
Russia’s state gas producer Gazprom has warned Ukraine that it may
increase the gas price for Kiev after the first quarter. Reuters quotes
Andrei Kruglov, Gazprom’s chief financial officer, as saying.
The
situation with payments is worrying. Ukraine is paying but not as well
as we would like it to ... We are still thinking about whether to extend
the pricing contract into the next quarter based on current prices.
Ukraine
has expressed the hope that the gas price will remain stable, amid
fears that it will be used as a political weapon by Moscow.
Russia
agreed in December to reduce the gas price for Kiev to $268.50 per
1,000 cubic metres, a cut of about one third from around $400 which
Ukraine had paid since 2009. The reduction was part of a wider financial
deal Moscow signed with Kiev after Ukraine spurned an EU trade deal - a
decision that prompted the protests that led to the ousting of Viktor
Yanukovych.
Ukraine consumes about 55bn cubic metres of gas
each year, and more than half of this amount is imported from Russia.
Gazprom exported 161.5bn cubic metres of gas to Europe last year.
The last dispute over gas pricing between Russia and Ukraine caused shortages in Europe over the winter of 2009.
Kruglov said Russian gas transit to Europe via Ukraine was normal.
Updated
Russia’s internet monitoring agency has blocked 13 internet pages
linked to the Ukraine protest movement that helped oust the country’s
Russia-leaning president, AP reports.
Roskomnadzor
said in a statement published online Monday that it had been ordered by
the general prosecutor’s office to shut down the pages on Russia’s
leading social media website, VKontakte.
The agency said the
groups “propagandised the activity of Ukrainian nationalist groups”, and
accused them of encouraging “terrorist activity” and “participation in
unsanctioned mass actions”.
The largest pro-demonstration group,
which has more than 500,000 members, was not accessible to users on
Russian territory on Monday.
Updated
The standoffs are continuing at military bases in Crimea.
Just witnessed Russian
navy captain trying to convince Ukrainian base cmdr in Simferopol to
surrender. He refused. They shook hands!
— Elizabeth Palmer (@elizapalmer) March 3, 2014
More than 30 Russian military vehicles parked on the field near the Ukraine military station in Perevalnoye. pic.twitter.com/dm2eIVjLZF
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) March 3, 2014
This graphic gives an idea of the respective military strengths of Ukraine and Russia.
Has China changed its position on Ukraine or has there been a communications breakdown?
This was yesterday...
China emphasized the territorial integrity of Ukraine, recognized its new authorities and abstained in the UN Security Council
— Bartłomiej E. Nowak (@BartENowak) March 2, 2014
Denis Berezovsky, who defected to the pro-Russian Crimean
authorities yesterday, just one day after being appointed head of the
Ukrainian navy, has held a meeting with officers asking them to defect
with him, my colleague Shaun Walker, in Crimea, has been told by another journalist Graham Stack.
It
sounds like an extraordinary meeting as also there alongside Berezovsky
was the new admiral, loyal to Kiev, who read out a statement saying
Berezovsky is being charged with state treason.
The navy officers were apparently not receptive to Berezovsky’s offer.
Berezovsky is due to give a press conference today. Ukrainian navy chief Denis Berezovsky swears
allegiance to the pro-Russian regional leaders of Crimea in Sevastopol
on 2 March, 2014 in this still image taken from video. Photograph:
Reuters
Russia’s deputy economy minister has said “hysteria” on Russian
markets will subside because of central bank interventions to support
the rouble but Russia faces a period of strained ties with the European
Union and the United States which will weigh on the economy.
The Russian rouble is trading at new all-time lows this morning, despite its central bank’s emergency interest rate cut this morning, and the stock market is also down in early trading.
Andrei Klepach told Reuters:
The
wave of hysteria will pass, but it is difficult to say when. Anyway,
what lies ahead of us is a period of more confrontation and
difficulties. For us, that will mean more complicated relations with the
European Union, the States, with all the resulting consequences.
We reported earlier that the Ukrainian border guard said there had
been a build up of armoured vehicles near a ferry port on the Russian
side of the Kerch Channel, which separates the two countries. Now AP is
reporting that pro-Russian troops have taken over the ferry terminal on
the Ukrainian side:
Pro-Russian troops
have taken over a ferry terminal on the easternmost tip of Crimea, which
serves as a common departure point for many Russian-bound ships.
The
seizure of the terminal in the Ukrainian city of Kerch, about 20km (12
miles) by boat to Russia, has exacerbated fears that Moscow is planning
to bring more troops into this strategic Black Sea region, as the west
debates how to react to the incursions.
Early on Monday, soldiers
were operating the terminal. The men refused to identify themselves, but
they spoke Russian and the vehicles transporting them had Russian
license plates.
Russian navy crew members on a patrol boat
guard the Russian military ships of the Black Sea fleet with destroyers
Smetlivyy (back left) and Kerch (back right) in the port of Sevastopol,
Crimea, Ukraine, on 2 March 2014. Photograph: Maxim Shipenkov/EPA
Updated
The UK foreign secretary, William Hague, said he is very concerned about further moves into Ukraine by Russian forces. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme
from Kiev, where he is meeting Ukrainian leaders in a show of
solidarity, Hague said what was happening was “certainly the biggest
crisis in European in the 21st century”.
Clearly
we are very concerned about any possibly of a further move by Russia in
other parts of Ukraine but that does not mean the position in the
Crimea is stable.
This is a very tense situation and dangerous situation that Russia’s intervention has now produced.
He
warned that Russia faced “significant diplomatic and economic costs”
but was reluctant to detail the economic sanctions Russia may face. He
said:
Be in no doubt, there will be consequences. The world cannot say it is OK to violate the sovereignty of other nations.
This
clearly is a violation of the sovereignty independence and territorial
integrity of Ukraine. If Russia continues on this course we have to be
clear this is not an acceptable way to conduct international relations.
Updated
Wives of Ukrainian soldiers have been prevented from taking food to
their husbands at a Crimean military base, according to France 24’s
Douglas Herbert.
Just heard that wives of #Ukraine soldiers on base at Perevalnaya tried to bring food to their husbands, but were turned away. #Crimea
— Douglas Herbert (@dougf24) March 3, 2014
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