14:27
19.6.2014
14:29
19.6.2014
BREAKING: Ukraine's new pro-Western President Petro Poroshenko says he will sign a key trade and economic relations portion of a crucial EU pact in Brussels on June 27.
Ukraine's previous Kremlin-backed leadership's rejection of the EU Association Agreement in November triggered months of deadly protests that led to the February ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych.
Poroshenko made the announcement on June 19, while introducing the new foreign minister, Pavlo Klimkin, to the ministry staff.
Ukraine's previous Kremlin-backed leadership's rejection of the EU Association Agreement in November triggered months of deadly protests that led to the February ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych.
Poroshenko made the announcement on June 19, while introducing the new foreign minister, Pavlo Klimkin, to the ministry staff.
15:31
19.6.2014
Sergei Ivanov uses the word "genocide" re E.Ukraine. Allegation of genocide was pretext for intervention in S.Ossetia http://t.co/4lK46uhU5d
— Oliver Bullough (@OliverBullough) June 19, 2014
16:40
19.6.2014
Let's get the facts straight about #EU-#Ukraine | FAQs: http://t.co/Q02VMLZxVo
— EU External Action (@eu_eeas) June 19, 2014
16:46
19.6.2014
Investigation of the February mass murder on Maidan in Kyiv is the 1st priority - Ukraine's newly appointed AG Yarema at his 1st presser
— Maxim Eristavi (@MaximEristavi) June 19, 2014
17:00
19.6.2014
Russia analyst Michael Weiss has an interesting piece in the Daily Beast today that suggests Vladimir Putin is actually only getting started in Ukraine:
Read the entire article here
When Russian tanks used to roll into a foreign country, it was known as an invasion. Today it’s known as a “failure by Russia to de-escalate [a] situation.” That was State Department spokesperson Marie Harf’s comment on widespread reports, since corroborated by NATO, that three T-64 tanks, along with multiple rocket launchers and armored personnel carriers (APCs), entered east Ukraine from Russia last week. And such are the gifts of diplomatic nicety still being bestowed upon Russian President Vladimir Putin that the United States continues to treat him as a recalcitrant child at reform school rather than as a lying authoritarian who still seeks to partition or balkanize Ukraine. If only he’d behave himself…
Contrary to press claims that Putin has wound down his direct and indirect interference in east Ukraine —claims which were mostly based on his seeming acceptance of Petro Poroshenko’s election as Ukraine’s president, and his brief one-on-one conversations with Poroshenko and President Obama during the D-Day anniversary in France last week —the opposite is the case. As the West has been busy rediscovering a country called Iraq, the Kremlin has been not-so-quietly increasing its support for militants seeking to carve out satrapies in Donetsk and Lugansk. In fact, it has also cut off Ukraine’s gas supply and is now moving troops back to the Ukrainian border, a fortnight or so after belatedly withdrawing them.
For the last several weeks, my team at The Interpreter, a Russian news and analysis website, have been documenting mounting evidence of what we’ve termed Russia’s “remote controlled war” in east Ukraine. Typically, this has been a war defined by the military doctrine of maskirovka, which traffics in concealment, plausible deniability, and carefully leaked or disseminated disinformation (dezinformatsiya) designed to both confuse the enemy and deter him from predicting or responding to one’s next move. Nevertheless, every once and a while, the mask slips.
Contrary to press claims that Putin has wound down his direct and indirect interference in east Ukraine —claims which were mostly based on his seeming acceptance of Petro Poroshenko’s election as Ukraine’s president, and his brief one-on-one conversations with Poroshenko and President Obama during the D-Day anniversary in France last week —the opposite is the case. As the West has been busy rediscovering a country called Iraq, the Kremlin has been not-so-quietly increasing its support for militants seeking to carve out satrapies in Donetsk and Lugansk. In fact, it has also cut off Ukraine’s gas supply and is now moving troops back to the Ukrainian border, a fortnight or so after belatedly withdrawing them.
For the last several weeks, my team at The Interpreter, a Russian news and analysis website, have been documenting mounting evidence of what we’ve termed Russia’s “remote controlled war” in east Ukraine. Typically, this has been a war defined by the military doctrine of maskirovka, which traffics in concealment, plausible deniability, and carefully leaked or disseminated disinformation (dezinformatsiya) designed to both confuse the enemy and deter him from predicting or responding to one’s next move. Nevertheless, every once and a while, the mask slips.
Read the entire article here
18:03
19.6.2014
Prospects of #Ukraine ceasefire dimming as fighting rages in east. #Akhmetov in statement says: "Donbass is in distress. Blood is flowing."
— David M. Herszenhorn (@herszenhorn) June 19, 2014
18:04
19.6.2014
The infamous Smersh (Death to Spies) and KGB are apparently being re-created in the Lugansk People's Republic http://t.co/RvzE4olbeL
— Radosław Sikorski (@sikorskiradek) June 19, 2014
18:13
19.6.2014
#Ukraine ATO spox: 4 Ukrainian soldiers killed, 20 wounded during fight near #Sloviansk today http://t.co/0KFiB4cDH4 pic.twitter.com/yVKx2FCqnx
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) June 19, 2014
18:52
19.6.2014
Here is another update from our news desk:
The leaders of France and Germany have urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to resume negotiations with Ukraine on gas supplies.
In a three-way phone call on June 19 , German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande "underlined the importance of securing a rapid end to the fighting in east Ukraine, so as to stabilize the security situation and create the conditions for a genuine de-escalation," according to a statement from Hollande's office.
The Kremlin press service said the three leaders also discussed the potential consequences for Europe's energy security and economy due to the failed negotiations with Kyiv on settling Ukraine's debt for Russian gas.
Gas negotiations between Ukraine and Russia broke down earlier this week, raising fears in Europe that there could be a disruption in supplies of Russian gas to EU countries.
In a three-way phone call on June 19 , German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande "underlined the importance of securing a rapid end to the fighting in east Ukraine, so as to stabilize the security situation and create the conditions for a genuine de-escalation," according to a statement from Hollande's office.
The Kremlin press service said the three leaders also discussed the potential consequences for Europe's energy security and economy due to the failed negotiations with Kyiv on settling Ukraine's debt for Russian gas.
Gas negotiations between Ukraine and Russia broke down earlier this week, raising fears in Europe that there could be a disruption in supplies of Russian gas to EU countries.