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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
10:24 15.3.2014
From the newswires:

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Poland and Lithuania amid rising tensions in nearby Ukraine.

The White House says Biden will depart on March 17.

Biden will meet with Poland's president and prime minister, plus the presidents of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. T

he White House says the leaders plan to discuss ways to support Ukraine's sovereignty.

They'll also discuss the defense commitments that NATO allies have to one another. (AP, AFP)
10:26 15.3.2014
Here's a link to RFE/RL's Russian Service live feed of the Peace March in Moscow.
10:29 15.3.2014
And here's a link to RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service live feed of a demonstration in SImferopol against the March 16 referendum
10:39 15.3.2014
Deutsche Welle takes a look at efforts by Russia and the West to frame the legal debate over Criema's referendum.

"Ahead of the Crimea referendum, the rhetorical battle over legality is heating up between Russia and the West. Rising powers may be siding with the G-7 but that is no reason for complacency."
10:42 15.3.2014
Russian opposition leader Ilya Yashin tells RFE/RL's Russian Service on Live Feed that "true Russian patriots" turned out for today's Peace March in Moscow.
10:48 15.3.2014
In an interview with the Kyiv Post, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy said he "believes Congress will resist pressure from American companies that are against strong sanctions to punish Russia's invasion of the Crimean peninsula."

Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, is in Kyiv with a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators including Arizona Republican John McCain, Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson, and Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin.
10:50 15.3.2014
Christopher Miller tweets from the Ukrainian Parliament:

10:52 15.3.2014
Russian opposition figure Ilya Yashin tweets from Peace march in Moscow

10:53 15.3.2014
Christopher Miller tweets pix from large pro-Russia demonstration in Donetsk:

11:10 15.3.2014
Reports are surfacing that ballots for Crimea's March 16 referendum have already been filled out and that Russian citizens are being bussed in to participate.

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