-- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Kyiv as U.S. officials announced Washington is preparing a $1 billion aid package for Ukraine.
-- Speaking at a press conference at his residence, Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the change of government in Ukraine an "unconstitutional overthrow and an armed seizure of power."
-- Putin also said there are no considerations to annex Crimea and no intentions to provoke separatist sentiment. He said it is up to the citizens of Crimea to determine their own future.
-- In Crimea, there are standoffs between Russian and Ukrainian troops in their bases, with conflicting reports of ultimatums given to Ukrainian troops to surrender that come and pass.
-- Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin has said that Ukraine's ousted President Viktor Yanukovych sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin requesting that he use the Russian military to restore law and order in his country.
-- In eastern Ukraine, pro-Russian demonstrators have occupied part of the regional government building in the city of Donetsk. Meanwhile, a few hundred pro-Russian activists tried but failed to force their way into the regional administration building in the southern city of Odesa.
NOTE: Live blog updates are listed according to local time in Kyiv
Our Ukrainian Service has a video of men signing up for military duty at a recruitment center in Cherkasy, a city in central Ukraine.
20:132.3.2014
Our Azerbaijani Service has a handy infographic comparing the militaries of Ukraine and Russia. It's in Azeri, but the icons make it easy enough to understand.
NATO's North Atlantic Council, the alliance's main political decision-making body, met today. They've just issued a statement:
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.
NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen has called on Russia to withdraw its forces from Ukraine and refrain from interfering in other parts of that country.
NATO's secretary-general was speaking to reporters in Brussels after chairing an emergency meeting of ambassadors from the 28 NATO member states, known as the North Atlantic Council.
After almost eight hours of talks, the alliance issued a statement urging “both parties to immediately seek a peaceful resolution through dialogue, through the dispatch of international observers under the auspices of the United Nations Security Council or the OSCE."
Rasmussen said earlier Sunday that Russia's movement of troops into Ukraine's Crimea region "threatens peace and security in Europe. Russia must stop its military activities."
21:472.3.2014
Drove to Ukr-Russian border today. No sign of refugees. Border guard calls Rus reports on people fleeing "nonsense"
