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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
13:51 11.3.2014
BBC Ukraine has reported that former Yanukovych adviser Hanna Herman was not impressed by today's press conference by her former boss.

"He should have been calming people down by blocking the illegal [Crimean independence] referendum," she said. "That would have been the position of a man who is ready to fight body and soul for the country. Anything else looks pathetic."
14:27 11.3.2014


Mustafa Jemilev, a people's deputy of Ukraine and the former head of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis has reportedly been invited to Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin on the situation in Crimea.

Jemliev has yet to RSVP, but has suggested that if he goes, "they will not discuss the withdrawal of Russian troops, so they're going to offer something instead" -- possibly special rights and protection for Crimean Tatars should the peninsula succeed in its bid for independence and eventual annexation by Russia.

Russia is looking to find common ground with Crimean Tatars, who hold a longstanding grudge against Moscow for the mass deportation of Tatars from the peninsula in 1944. The Mejlis says it will not recognize the March 16 referendum, and has called on all residents of Crimea, regardless of ethnicity, to boycott the vote. Tatars make up 12 percent of the population of Crimea.
14:32 11.3.2014
UPDATE: Rim Gilfanov, director of RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service, reports that Jemilev will go to Moscow, will meet with former president of Tatarstan Mintimir Shaimiyev, and may meet with Putin. The Crimean Mejlis says his visit has been organized in coordination with the Ukrainian government.
14:56 11.3.2014
In Brussels, the European Commission has adopted a proposal to extend 500 million euros worth of unilateral trade benefits to Ukraine.

EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the move was "a concrete, tangible" measure of support for Ukraine after the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych.

Once adopted by the EU, it will remove import duties on a wide range of agricultural and other goods. European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said the tax breaks would run until at least November 1 this year, by which time the European Union expects to have signed a full free-trade agreement with Ukraine.

The EU has already decided to "immediately" sign the political chapters of an Association Agreement with Ukraine, while also offering Kyiv an economic aid package worth $15 billion over the next few years, amid the standoff with Russia over Crimea.
15:00 11.3.2014
Another, better look at where Kazakhstan stands in Putin's "reintegration project" by Carnegie's Martha Brill Olcott. Although Nursultan Nazarbaev has publicly endorsed "deep integration" with Russia, she notes that the future is far from clear:

"What will happen when the nearly 74-year-old leader passes from the scene? Will the Kremlin be content with a successor who is also pro-integration with Russia? Or will various behind-the-scenes dealers try to stimulate the dissatisfactions of Kazakhstan's ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking minorities to get them to exercise their 'right' of national self-determination and rejoin the 'Russian motherland'? This would be totally unacceptable to the rest of Kazakhstan's increasingly patriotic population, who like the people in much of Ukraine would not want to submit quietly."
15:02 11.3.2014
The agencies are reporting that in Crimea all flights except those connecting to Moscow have been canceled:
Reports said that a Ukraine airline flight from Kyiv to Crimea's regional capital of Simferopol had to turn back after being refused permission to land.

An incoming flight from Istanbul was canceled, but at least two flights came in from Moscow. Reports said armed men took over air-traffic control at the airport overnight Tuesday.

Flights from Kyiv to Simferopol were previously suspended on February 28 -- one day after armed men seized control of Crimea's parliament and a pro-Moscow government was installed -- but resumed in less than 48 hours.

Tuesday's suspension comes just days before a March 16 referendum called by the region's new authorities on whether Crimea is to break away from Ukraine and join Russia.
15:06 11.3.2014
More details from the White House on Obama's discussion with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev about the Ukraine crisis.

The White House said Obama encouraged Nazarbaev to play an active role in finding a peaceful outcome, amid the occupation of Crimea by Russian forces.

It said the two leaders agreed on the importance of upholding principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Earlier Monday, Nazarbaev spoke about Ukraine by phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to the Kazakh presidential website, Nazarbaev reiterated to Merkel the importance of finding a diplomatic solution while ensuring Ukraine's territorial integrity.

In his call with Putin, Nazarbaev's website said he expressed support for Russia's position in defending the rights of national minorities in Ukraine.

An expected visit by Nazarbaev to Moscow Tuesday never materialized.
15:11 11.3.2014
While we're at it, why not read up on the Russian minority throughout Central Asia? Who knows, might become relevant!
15:15 11.3.2014

More essential reporting from the Kyiv Post:
15:22 11.3.2014
The Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry believes the decision of the Crimean parliament is absolutely legal. The Russian Federation will fully respect the results of the referendum.

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