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Ukraine's acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya speaks to the UN General Assembly on March 27.
Ukraine's acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya speaks to the UN General Assembly on March 27.
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Live Blog: UN Backs Ukraine Integrity

Final Summary For March 27

-- The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution that affirms Ukraine's territorial integrity.

-- The IMF has announced "a staff-level agreement" with Kyiv on assistance of $14 billion-$18 billion in conjunction with a reform program that will "unlock" up to $27 billion over the next two years, pending final approval next month. Tthe U.S. Congress has also passed an aid bill for Ukraine.

-- Ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko has announced plans to run for president.

-- Members of the Right Sector have been holding a demonstration outside the Ukrainian parliament building to vent their anger at the killing of prominent member Oleksander Muzychko earlier in the week.

-- Six Ukrainian military officers detained by pro-Russian troops in Crimea have been released, including Colonel Yuliy Mamchur, but five others are still being held captive.

-- Anonymous sources quoted by CNN say U.S. intelligence "concludes it is more likely than previously thought that Russian forces will enter eastern Ukraine."

-- U.S. President Barack Obama, in the keynote speech of his visit to Europe, chided Russia for its use of "brute force" in Ukraine and vowed that a determined alliance of the United States and Europe will prevail over time.


*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Kyiv
10:24 14.3.2014
10:19 14.3.2014

Andriy Parubiy, the former Euromaidan commandant who now heads Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, says a "plan B" exists in case of open aggression by Russia.

Parubiy offered no details, saying only: "This plan will be elaborated and implemented very quickly. It's not only about evacuation."

Read more here:
10:09 14.3.2014

Although the EU has yet to release a formal list of Russians to be targeted by EU sanctions, unofficial lists abound, including this, published by the Information Resistance -- an information alert network made up of Ukrainian military reservists. (IR says it received the list directly from a source in Brussels.)

Officials associated with Crimea operation:

-- Aleksandr Bortnikov, head of the Federal Security Service
-- Sergei Glazyov, presidential advisor
-- Nikolai Patrushev, Security Council head
-- Sergei Shoigu, defense minister
-- Vladislav Surkov, presidential aide
-- Aleksandr Vitko, commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet

Political figures and colorful extras:
-- Valentina Matvienko, Federation Council head
-- Aleksei Pushkov, head of the State Duma foreign affairs committee
-- Dmitry Rogozin, deputy prime minister
-- Vladimir Zhirinovsky, State Duma member
-- Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechen leader
-- Aleksandr Zaldostanov, head of the Night Wolves bikers
-- Dmitry Kiselyov, general director of the "Russia Today" news agency

Putin's business allies:
-- Aleksei Miller, Gazprom chair
-- Igor Sechin, Rosneft head
-- Vladimir Yakunin, Russian Railways head
09:41 14.3.2014
09:40 14.3.2014
Russia's Foreign Ministry has accused the White House of denying Russian journalists access to a press event in the Oval Office after talks Wednesday between U.S. President Barack Obama and Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

The statement -- labeled a "commentary" -- from Foreign Ministry representative Aleksandr Lukashevich said, "It seems that in Washington, where they so love to talk about freedom of speech and the rights of journalists, they are not prepared to follow these principles themselves."

Lukashevich's statement continued, "They do not want to hear questions that do not fit the scenario developed beforehand, for example, about the crimes of neo-Nazis from the 'Right Sector,' that stand behind the 'government' of A. Yatsenyuk, in the White House."

Obama answered only one question posed by a reporter at the press event Wednesday, which was attended by a dozen or so journalists and photographers.
09:38 14.3.2014
Simon Ostrovsky at Vice News is doing the most amazing, fearless video reporting from Ukraine.

Check out all the dispatches here.

His colleague Robert King was on the streets of Donetsk last night, when a large group of pro-Russian activists attacked a group of pro-Ukrainian demonstrators. One protester was reportedly killed.

09:22 14.3.2014
In additon to the meeting between John Kerry and Sergei Lavrov, the International Monetary Fund will start talks with the Ukrainian government on an economic reform program. From the agencies:

A team from the IMF is now in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, gathering data about the government's finances.

In a statement, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the IMF will work with Ukrainian authorities "to develop an economic reform program that will result in sound economic governance and sustainable growth, while protecting the vulnerable in society."

She said the mission should finish its work by March 21. Ukrainian officials have said the country is nearing bankruptcy.

IMF support is widely seen as critical to Kyiv's finances and to getting its economy on a growth track. In related news, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird has said the country will offer nearly $200 million in aid to Ukraine to help promote sustainable economic growth and good governance.
22:03 13.3.2014
We're winding up the live blog for another day. Join us tomorrow.
21:47 13.3.2014
UN envoy Vitaly Churkin has been speaking the UN Security Council.

21:24 13.3.2014

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