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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.
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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
15:35 20.3.2014
French President Francois Hollande says the planned European Union-Russia summit in June will be canceled because of Russia's seizure of Ukraine's Crimea. Hollande was speaking on his arrival for an EU summit in Brussels.
15:44 20.3.2014
Growing anti-US sentiment in Russia, according to the independent Levada polling center.
​
15:52 20.3.2014
Speaking at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he’s "deeply concerned" about the crisis over Russia's seizure of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.

Ban is due to meet with Ukrainian leaders in Kyiv on March 21.

The UN has said Ban hopes to persuade the Russian and Ukrainian sides to start a direct dialogue to ensure a political solution. The world body also says a 34-member UN human rights monitoring mission is expected to deploy in eastern Ukraine by March 21 to check for abuses.
15:56 20.3.2014
The Brueghel think tank has published a nice infographic on the possible cost of sanctions against Russia.
15:58 20.3.2014
Hate crimes skyrocketing in Russia, blamed mostly on Putin's push to boost Russian pride.
16:03 20.3.2014
Out of tune

16:09 20.3.2014
RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports that Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has summoned Kazakhstan's ambassador to explain the government in Astana's statement of support for Russia's internationally unrecognized annexation of Crimea. According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's website, Deputy Foreign Minister Natalya Halibarenko met with Kazakh Ambassador Zautbek Turisbekov on March 19. Halibarenko reportedly expressed Ukraine's deep concern over statements from Kazakh authorities about Russia's annexation of Crimea being "understandable" and describing the March 16 referendum in Crimea to secede from Ukraine and join Russia as being an expression of the "free will of the people." Halibarenko also said such statements contradict comments from top officials in Kazakhstan about the necessity to respect Ukraine's territorial integrity. Kazakh Foreign Ministry press secretary Nurzhan Aytmakhanov told RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, "Our position is published on the ministry's website. There's nothing more to say."

The Kazakh president's office reiterates its position here.
16:13 20.3.2014
President Barack Obama says the United States is imposing more sanctions targeting Russia over its annexation of Crimea. Speaking in a live televised broadcast, Obama said the measures target senior Russian officials as well as individuals with significant resources who support the government, plus a bank. Obama said he has signed an executive order that could also lead to sanctions on key sectors of the Russian economy, if such a step is deemed necessary.
16:31 20.3.2014
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has published a list of Russians targeted by the fresh U.S. sanctions.

Here are some of the biggest names:

-- Billionaire Gennady Timchenko
-- Businessmen Arkady and Boris Rotenberg
-- Sergei Ivanov, chief of staff of the presidential executive office
-- Lawmaker Sergei Mironov, co-authored a bill to annex Crimea
-- Putin aide Andrei Fursenko
16:32 20.3.2014
In his statement nixing the plan for an EU-Russia summit in June, French President Francois Hollande added that there has been "a suspension of political relations" with Moscow and repeated Brussels' view that the annexation of Crimea is "unacceptable." A summit with Russia, he said, "cannot happen in these circumstances." Hollande said the EU could impose further sanctions against Russia, after nearly 20 Russians and Ukrainians were targeted with measures this week.

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