That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Friday, April 20, 2018. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage. Thanks for reading and take care.
U.S. Slams Russia, Iran As 'Morally Reprehensible' For Continued Rights Violations
By RFE/RL
A new U.S. State Department report has labeled the governments of Russia, Iran, China, and North Korea as "morally reprehensible" with human rights violations on a daily basis, making them "forces of instability."
While releasing the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2017, an annual examination of human rights practices of nearly 200 countries, acting Secretary of State John Sullivan said on April 20 that while some governments are not able to maintain security and meet the basic needs of their people, others "are simply unwilling."
"States that restrict freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly; that allow and commit violence against members of religious, ethnic, and other minority groups; or that undermine the fundamental dignity of persons are morally reprehensible and undermine our interests," he said.
"The governments of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, for example, violate the human rights of those within their borders on a daily basis and are forces of instability as a result."
The report sharply chided Moscow in the Russia section of the report, saying it continues to “arm, train, lead, and fight alongside pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine and that human rights in Russia continue to be "significantly and negatively" affected by Moscow's "purported annexation" of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula and its support for separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine.
Read more here.