11:46
14.5.2014
This just in from RFE/RL's news desk:
The Ukrainian government is hosting roundtable talks today in an effort to de-escalate the crisis in the country's east amid a fresh report of a deadly separatist attack on government troops.
The talks in Kyiv will include government, parliamentary, and regional leaders, but notably no representative from the pro-Russian separatist movement.
The roundtable discussions will be moderated by veteran German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger and are based on a road map brokered by the OSCE.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier described the talks in Kyiv as "only a start."
The talks come as pro-Russian separatists claim to have killed eight government soldiers in an overnight battle outside Slovyansk.
That report comes one day after separatist rebels killed seven Ukrainian soldiers in an ambush.
The talks in Kyiv will include government, parliamentary, and regional leaders, but notably no representative from the pro-Russian separatist movement.
The roundtable discussions will be moderated by veteran German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger and are based on a road map brokered by the OSCE.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier described the talks in Kyiv as "only a start."
The talks come as pro-Russian separatists claim to have killed eight government soldiers in an overnight battle outside Slovyansk.
That report comes one day after separatist rebels killed seven Ukrainian soldiers in an ambush.
11:37
14.5.2014
Kiova aloittaa "pyöreän pöydän neuvottelut" ilman separatisteja http://t.co/zflf1l28kP
— Jussi Niemelainen (@JNiemelainen) May 14, 2014
11:29
14.5.2014
How the richest man in #Ukraine lost to a warlord. Another good piece about #Akhmetov and his failed game with Kyiv. http://t.co/mu1KkNyslk
— Natalia Melnychuk (@pravolivo) May 14, 2014
11:09
14.5.2014
This story by RFE/RL's Luke Johnson about Russia's threat to close GPS stations on its territory is peripherally related to the Ukraine crisis, but it's interesting nonetheless. Johnso was speaking to Bradford Parkinson, professor emeritus of aeronautics at Stanford University:
Read the entire article here.
Parkinson, who led the project to create the GPS system in the 1970s, said closing the Russian stations could have an effect only in terms of fine levels of accuracy, "when you are trying to get accuracies ranging down to perhaps centimeters or better," he said. "And so, if he were to indeed shut such differential stations down, the people he's going to be harming are his own people. The GPS itself does not rely on any reference stations within Russian territory.
"That's like a guy saying to the rest of the town, I'm going to really ruin you -- I'm going to turn off my own water," Parkinson joked. "'Have at it. Let me know how it turns out.'"
"That's like a guy saying to the rest of the town, I'm going to really ruin you -- I'm going to turn off my own water," Parkinson joked. "'Have at it. Let me know how it turns out.'"
Read the entire article here.
09:55
14.5.2014
On Russian TV, Duma Speaker says "there's still a chance to de-escalate crisis through dialogue of all political forces in Ukraine"
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) May 14, 2014
09:12
14.5.2014
Ukraine's rising protest movement was based on socioeconomic demands, in both west & east http://t.co/0mCLboq6ML pic.twitter.com/b8D28kJV2x
— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) May 14, 2014
08:26
14.5.2014
#Ukraine army helicopters in #Kramatorsk yesterday emblazoned with #UN logo https://t.co/niAKie5knL
— Lizzie Phelan (@LizziePhelan) May 14, 2014
08:21
14.5.2014
Peace talks in Kiev, but pro-Russian separatists aren't at the table: http://t.co/JfwVnN4jRT
— Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) May 14, 2014
07:53
14.5.2014
Good morning. We'll start our live blog today by pointing you in the direction of an interesting op-ed piece in "The Moscow Times" by political analyst Georgy Bovt, who has been discussing the prospect of a new Iron Curtain betwen Russia and the West. He makes the case that this division already exists in most Russians' heads:
Read the entire article here.
About 80 percent of Russians have never left the Commonwealth of Independent States and have no plans to do so. Of those who have visited the West, many were disappointed to learn that it was not the "heaven on Earth" they had expected. Life there can be difficult and stressful, and the laws are unfamiliar. Many Russians find themselves asking, "Why fill your head with strange rules and regulations and struggle to learn a foreign language?" Only about 5 percent of Russians speak a foreign language at conversational level. The authorities have already prohibited the siloviki from traveling abroad on the far-fetched pretext that 150 different countries might arrest them and extradite them to the U.S. If you add the families members of those siloviki, this means that about 5 million Russians are essentially banned from traveling abroad.
The West will have little luck frightening Russians with the prospect of a new Iron Curtain because Russians themselves already built one long ago — in their minds.
The West will have little luck frightening Russians with the prospect of a new Iron Curtain because Russians themselves already built one long ago — in their minds.
Read the entire article here.
21:33
13.5.2014
That concludes our live-blogging for May 13, barring major developments. Follow our continuing coverage of events in Ukraine and elsewhere in our region here.