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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
11:06 18.3.2014
Meanwhile in Moldova...

A Russian newspaper says the head of the Transdniestrian parliament has asked the State Duma to consider the "possibility" of the breakaway Moldovan region becoming part of the Russian Federation.

The "Vedomosti" newspaper reported on March 18 that Mikhail Burla, the speaker of Transdniester's Supreme Soviet, has sent a letter to Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin requesting that Russia's lower chamber of parliament examine the legal ways of facilitating Transdniester's accession to the Russian Federation.

In 2006, Transdniester held a referendum similar to the March 16 referendum in Crimea, in which 97 percent of its population voted in favor of the separatist region joining Russia.

Transdniester, which is wedged between Moldova and Ukraine, declared independence in 1990.

The two sides fought a brief war in 1992 that ended when the Russian military intervened on the side of Transdniester.

Transdniester's independence is not recognized by any nation. (vedomosti.ru, unimedia.md)
11:03 18.3.2014
So, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has now arrived in Warsaw as he begins a two-day visit to Poland and Lithuania over the Ukrainian crisis.

This is also just in from the wires:

German media reports say that, amid the ongoing crisis over Crimea, the EU official in charge of enlargement has suggested fast-tracking a long-term offer to Ukraine of membership in the bloc.

Stefan Fuele was quoted in the "Die Welt" newspaper as saying, "If we seriously want to change that part of Eastern Europe affected by the crisis, we should also apply the most powerful tool available to the EU, and that is expansion."

Fuele went on to say that EU enlargement has an "unprecedented changing and stabilizing force."

Ukraine is expected to sign an agreement on closer political cooperation with the European Union on the sidelines of an EU summit on March 21.

A far more wide-reaching free-trade accord is expected to be signed later this year. (welt.de, UNIAN, and pravda.con.ua)
10:58 18.3.2014
One of the last sightings of Crimean Tatar Reshat Ametov, found dead on March 16 with signs of violent death. His wife identified him on March 17.


Human Rights Watch says Ametov, a father of three, was last seen at a peaceful protest in Simferopol on March 3 during which a group of men in military-style jackets led him away.
10:21 18.3.2014
09:59 18.3.2014
This is interesting...

09:17 18.3.2014
08:18 18.3.2014
According to "The Moscow Times" former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has backed Russia's takeover of Crimea, saying it corrected a historical "mistake."
07:53 18.3.2014
Here's a little more from our newsdesk on U.S. diplomatic efforts to dissuade Russia from intervening further in Ukraine:

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is due to arrive in Warsaw today as he begins a two-day visit to Poland and Lithuania over the Ukrainian crisis.

Biden, who left Washington yesterday, is due to meet in Warsaw with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski.

He will meet separately in Warsaw with Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves.

In Vilnius, Biden will meet with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite and Latvian President Andris Berzins before leaving the region tomorrow.

The meetings with these NATO allies are part of a broader U.S. campaign to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to call off Moscow's intervention in Ukraine.

Latvia and Estonia share borders with Russia, while Poland and Lithuania are nearby. (AP, WarsawVoice.com)
07:34 18.3.2014
According to the Reuters news agency, Tokyo is now also taking measures against Russia:

Japan says it is slapping sanctions on Russia in response to Moscow's intervention in Ukraine.

Japanese Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said in Tokyo today that the government is freezing all talks with Russia on relaxing visa requirements, and on all new negotiations on investment accords and new agreements on space and military activities.

Suga, who is the top government spokesman, also said, "We ask that Russia respect international law and respect the integrity of Ukraine and not move towards annexing Crimea." (Reuters)
07:24 18.3.2014
Here's the latest update from the wires:

The Kremlin says President Vladimir Putin has approved a draft treaty to make Crimea part of Russia.

The move comes shortly after Putin formally informed both houses of parliament of Crimea's request to join Russia -- the first legislative step required by the Russian Constitution if the peninsula is to be annexed from Ukraine.


Yesterday, Putin recognized Crimea as an independent state in defiance of the international community's insistence that it remains part of Ukraine. (AFP, Interfax, and Reuters)

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