NEWS FLASH:
Belarusian Foreign Ministry says "contact group" on Ukraine conflict will meet in Minsk on January 30.
From Russian news agencies, via our newsroom:
Russian authorities say a deputy chairman of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis has been detained on suspicion of organizing "mass disorder" in the regional capital, Simferopol, last year.
The federal Investigative Committee said on January 29 that Ahtem Ciygoz was detained in connection with clashes outside the Crimean parliament in February 2014.
Crimean Tatars and other pro-Ukrainian activists clashed with pro-Russian activists near the parliament on February 26. The next day, armed men in unmarked uniforms seized the parliament building and the parliament voted to join Russia several days later.
"On February 26, 2014, unknown individuals called on Crimean Tatars to disobey local officials' lawful demands, which caused mass disorder accompanied with violence," Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said.
Russia annexed Crimea in March after a referendum condemned by Kyiv and the West as illegitimate.
Since then, activists, community leaders, and rights groups have said that Crimean Tatars have faced discrimination, pressure, and abuse for their opposition to the annexation.
Based on reporting by RIA and Interfax
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin (left) and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg speaking after their meeting at NATO headquarters today:
Klimkin:
"We are unfortunately unable to implement the Minsk agreement, including the cease-fire, including the withdrawal of forces, but also effective control for the Ukrainian-Russian border and starting, at least starting, effective political process there."
"[What happened in Mariupol] is for me indeed a terrorist act, but also a crime which goes beyond any sort of political responsibility, and the perpetrators should be brought not just to justice, but should end up in the Hague in the International Criminal Court."
"We have clear understanding that another heinous terrorist act could bring about the whole spiral of violence in a totally different direction. So, I understand that the [EU foreign] ministers [in Brussels] are ready to prepare a bold and robust statement about supporting Ukraine, about further ideas how to increase pressure on Russia also in the sense of possible restrictive measures."
Stoltenberg:
"We have seen the increased fighting in Ukraine and we are very much concerned about the situation and also about the continued support of Russia to the separatists."
Quotes from officials arriving for today's extraordinary EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting on Ukraine in Brussels:
British Minister for Europe David Lidington: "I believe that it is the duty of the EU now to prepare options for the future including, I think it is now necessary, the possibility of further restrictive measures on Russia which our leaders could then consider depending on what happens on the ground [in eastern Ukraine]."
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Garcia-Margallo y Marfil: "I think we have to see how the situation evolves and the aim of this council is first to condemn what has happened in Ukraine, second to call again for a dialogue between all parties, and third to keep the sanctions as they are and study the possibility to add new sanctions if this situation don't evolve for the better."
Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders: "We are waiting for a clear statement from the Greek government inside the room. I have listened to some comments outside but now we are just waiting for a clear and correct statement inside the room. But I hope that it will be possible to go further with the same consensus in the Foreign Affairs Council because there are so many dramatic situations on the ground in Ukraine that is needed maybe today to take new restrictive measure today targeting some persons, targeting some entities and I will see if it is possible to do that with everyone on board."
Avdiivka, just north of Donetsk, has been shelled by both sides of the conflict between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists. There are no soldiers in the town, and many inhabitants have also left. Those who remain have no running water or electricity, many have no gas. Schools and shops are closed. RFE/RL's Shahida Yakub calls it a ''city of ghosts.'' She filed this video report:
From Catherine Fitzpatrick:
In a program on Ukraine's Channel 5, Lt. Gen. Murzhenko said that the Ukrainian military did not possess any proof of the massive participation of the regular Russian army in the conflict in the Donbass.
"Now we have only facts of participation by individual citizens of the Russian Federation and servicemen of the Russian army who are members of unlawful armed formations. I will also say that the Ukrainian Army is not fighting the regular units of the army of Russia."
Lt. Gen. Murzhenko said that the involvement of individual Russian forces in the conflict in the Donbass was completely confirmed: