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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
13:18 16.3.2014
13:20 16.3.2014
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin has harsh tweets for Ukraine's ambassador to Moldova.
13:23 16.3.2014
Reuters reports:

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk vowed on Sunday to track down and bring to justice all those promoting separatism in its Russian-controlled region of Crimea "under the cover of Russian troops".

"I want to say above all ... to the Ukrainian people: Let there be no doubt, the Ukrainian state will find all those ringleaders of separatism and division who now, under the cover of Russian troops, are trying to destroy Ukrainian independence," he told a cabinet meeting as the region voted in a referendum on becoming a part of Russia.

"We will find all of them - if it takes one year, two years - and bring them to justice and try them in Ukrainian and international courts. The ground will burn beneath their feet."
13:27 16.3.2014
13:43 16.3.2014
Kremlin press service reporting that Vladimir Putin discussed Crimea with German Chancellor Angela Merkel today, and told her the vote in Crimea is in keeping with international law, citing Article 1 of the UN Charter. The Russian president also expressed his concerns about "radical groups" operating in eastern and southeastern Ukraine in cooperation with the Kyiv authorities.

The press statement also notes that Merkel, who initiated the call, congratulated Putin on the success of the Paralympic Games in Sochi.

For the record, here is Article 1 of the UN Charter:

Article 1
The Purposes of the United Nations are:
To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace;

To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace;

To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion; and

To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.
13:48 16.3.2014
More from the scene at Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor-General's Office:
13:55 16.3.2014
13:56 16.3.2014
Tweet alleging Russian artillery transported and positioned across Kerch Straight:
13:58 16.3.2014
Agencies relate the double-whammy from Putin in his phone conversation with Germany's Angela Merkel, vowing that Moscow will "respect" the choice of Crimean voters and expressing concern over tensions in Ukraine's south and southeast, which he says are being "inflamed by radical groups with the connivance of Kiyv's authorities."
14:01 16.3.2014
Acting Ukraine Defense Minister Tenyukh also says regarding the truce agreed with Moscow that Ukrainian military facilities on the peninsula are "therefore proceeding with a replenishment of reserves."

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