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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.

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
14:37 17.3.2014
The U.S. has imposed sanctions on top Russian officials over Crimea.

Here is the list from the White House:

1. Yelena Mizulina [State Duma Deputy, born December 9, 1954]
2. Leonid Slutsky [State Duma Deputy, born January 4, 1968]
3. Andrei Klishas [Chairman of the Russian Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Law, Judicial and Legal Affairs and the Development of Civil Society, born November 9, 1972]
4. Valentina Ivanovna Matviyenko [Federation Council Speaker, born April 7, 1949]
5. Dmitry Olegovich Rogozin [Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, born December 21, 1963]
6. Vladislav Yurievich Surkov [Presidential Aide to the President of the Russian Federation, born September 21, 1964]
7. Sergey Glazyev [Presidential Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation, born January 1, 1961]
14:06 17.3.2014
More from RFE/RL's news desk on the EU sanctions:

Correspondents say they are expected to expand the list to include more senior figures closer to Russian President Vladimir Putin. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Monday that Europe needs to send the "strongest possible signals" to Russia when deciding to impose sanctions. A sanctions announcement from the United States is also expected Monday.
14:00 17.3.2014
13:46 17.3.2014
13:35 17.3.2014
Carl Bildt says it's a bit reminiscent of Yalta
13:32 17.3.2014
Russia has proposed setting up what it calls a "support group" to mediate the Ukraine crisis.

Here are some details of the proposal, contained in a statement on the Foreign Ministry's website.

Noting the "inadmissibility of a revival of neo-Nazi ideology," the statement says Ukraine should

-- implement the February 21 agreement. That's the Western-brokered deal that was forged between the then opposition and Viktor Yanukovych, the day before he was ousted as president.
-- revise the constitution
-- declare Russian a second official language
-- decentralize power by turning the country into a federal state and giving broad powers to the regions
-- recognize Crimea's right to determine its future in accordance with the outcome of Sunday's referendum

It notes that Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty, and its military and political neutrality should be guaranteed by Russia, the European Union, and the United States and backed by a UN Security Council resolution.
13:00 17.3.2014
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, speaking in Brussels March 17, described Russia's actions in Crimea as an "anschluss," referring to Nazi Germany's annexation of Austria in 1938.

"We have an 'anschluss' of Crimea which cannot go unanswered by the international community. The referendum was not constitutional, nor legal and the choice of Crimea will not be recognized by the international community and this means that the EU will do what it said it will."
13:00 17.3.2014
12:53 17.3.2014
12:51 17.3.2014
Sergei Aksyonov, the head of Crimea's unrecognized Russian-backed government, says Russia has given the peninsula 15 billion rubles ($400 million) in aid. Aksyonov tweets that this doubles Crimea's budget.



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