-- Self-appointed leaders of the Ukrainian separatist region of Donetsk appealed to Russia to consider absorbing it to "restore historic justice" and to send in troops.
-- Pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk said they would not allow voting for the May 25 presidential election to be conducted.
-- Diplomats say the European Union agreed to impose sanctions against 13 additional individuals and two companies, believed to be the first time the EU has targeted companies over the Ukraine crisis.
-- Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov called the votes a "sham" and the United States said they were illegal and merely "an attempt to create further division and disorder in the country."
-- RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service said one of its affiliate radio stations in Donetsk was taken off the air by gunmen and replaced by a pro-Russian broadcaster.
-- The Kremlin said Ukrainian officials in Kyiv should hold talks with pro-Russian separatists on the results of the self-rule referendums, adding that it respected the "expression of the people's will."
EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Fuele was at RFE/RL's Prague headquarters today and spoke with correspondent Daisy Sindelar. Here are some choice pieces from that interview (report to be posted later):
"For any agreement to work, you have to have parties which are committed not only to finding the proper wording of that agreement, but also parties who are committed to the implementation of it. And if I look at the situation, it appears to me that the Russians from the very beginning thought that the Geneva agreement applies only to the Ukrainian government."
"The most worrisome development in Europe since the Second World War is that international law agreements, the principles like the Helsinki principles of 1975, do not have enough relevance anymore. That the power of who is more forceful is actually what matters. We had a two-polar world before, and the containment and the Iron Curtain. And we have a multipolar world now. What [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin has introduced a zero-polar world, where the only rule is that there are no rules. This is terrible."
"If we do not stand clearly and firmly and united against [the Russia propaganda war], the implications on our own countries is clear. Is it in the interest of Putin to have a strong European Union, expressing itself in one voice? No, it is not. And I see already a number of the populists and nationalists throughout the EU jumping on the Russian propaganda wagon, and I'm terrified about the possible consequences here."
"Our ultimate goal is that Russia talks to us and is part of finding a peaceful solution to that. And we have always been clear that the sanctions are not the end, or the purpose, of our policy. It's an instrument. It's an instrument to make our message clear at a time when Russia has ignored the previous messages, and it also should be clearly understood as an invitation that it's high time to sit together at the table and be serious about our continent."
"Where we failed, probably, is that we didn't take seriously the message the very same President Putin sent to us when he said a couple of years ago that the dissolution of the Soviet Union was the biggest catastrophe of the 20th century. Half of us laughed, half of us didn't understand what he was talking about. 2008 Bucharest NATO-Russia summit, I was in the room when President Putin said Ukraine was an artificial country. Again, half of us laughed, half of us did not understand. We do understand now. We're not laughing anymore."
"I'm sorry I have not been able to help the member states and partners to bring more clarity on the two most important questions. The first, for the member states -- are we serious and credible in what we offer and what we want to offer to our partners? And the question for the partners -- are we serious and credible in implementing the reforms which would bring us closer to the European Union?"
12:522.5.2014
Various media sources reporting violence and clashes at a demonstration in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa. There is a live video feed here. And another one here.
12:372.5.2014
If you are following events in Ukraine or elsewhere in RFE/RL's broadcast region on Twitter, here are some great sources to follow:
In case you missed it, RFE/RL Washington correspondent Carl Shreck (follow him on Twitter at @CarlSchreck) spoke the other day with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius about the crisis in Ukraine and related issues.
Linkevicius told RFE/RL that the EU is sometimes settling on a “common denominator” that is “too low” when it comes to sanctions against Russia due to the range of economic ramifications such measures could have for EU members.
“We are doing sometimes too late, too soft, too little, and this is the problem," he said. "But nevertheless, I have to say that thanks to the coordination with other players, in coordination with the United States, we are producing concerted actions.”
12:042.5.2014
The May 2 "New York Times" has an article by Peter Baker and Andrew Kramer arguing that Western sanctions against Russia appear to be having "more psychological than tangible" impact on Russia so far.
"Beyond the targets themselves, large companies like Exxon Mobil, Boeing, Royal Dutch Shell, Siemens and BP have done nothing to curtail operations in Russia. The chief executives of Shell and Siemens even met separately with Mr. Putin in recent weeks, making clear business will continue, although Shell has since added that it will hold off starting new projects for now.
"Exxon Mobil and BP are partners with Rosneft, the Russian state oilcompany led by Igor I. Sechin, who is on the American sanctions list, but both companies can continue working with Rosneft because Rosneft itself was not targeted. Just this week, the Austrian energy company OMV made a pipeline deal with the Russian company Gazprom while Germany said it would not block the sale of RWE’s oil and gas unit to the Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman."
Russia -- President Vladimir Putin meeting with Royal Dutch Shell chief executive officer Ben van Beurden on April 18, 2014
11:512.5.2014
RFE/RL's Russian Service reports that Stepan Poltopak, head of the Ukrainian National Guard, has said the eastern city of Sloyvansk has been almost completely secured from "separatists." He added that no National Guard troops had been killed or injured in the operation.
The Ukrainian government is calling on all militants to lay down their arms and surrender.
11:402.5.2014
Video from earlier today purportedly shows pro-Russia militants in Slovyansk with a badly wounded pilot from a shot-down Ukrainian military helicopter:
11:242.5.2014
"Novosti Donbassa" reporting that BuzzFeed journalist Mike Giglio has been released by pro-Russia militants. His driver reportedly suffered some health problems and has been hospitalized.
