12:29
15.5.2014
12:53
15.5.2014
As Crimea's Tatars continue to resist Moscow's annexation of the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula, RFE/RL's Alsu Kurmashev and Robert Coalson have been looking at how the Kremlin has been relying on officials from the Republic of Tatarstan to convince them that life in Russia isn't so bad.
A small group of activists and local residents will gather in Kazan this weekend to mark the 70th anniversary of Josef Stalin's brutal deportation of the Crimean Tatars in 1944.
The May 18 gathering in Kazan to mark the Red Army's roundup of more than 200,000 Crimean Tatars, who were shipped in cattle cars to remote destinations in Russia and Soviet Central Asia, will take place without the participation of Tatarstan's pro-Kremlin authorities.
The small event in the capital of Russia's Republic of Tatarstan illustrates the complex relations between the two Tatar communities -- relations that are further complicated by the Kremlin's efforts to use the loyal officials in Kazan to help minimize resistance from Crimean Tatars to Moscow's unrecognized annexation of the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula in March.
The May 18 gathering in Kazan to mark the Red Army's roundup of more than 200,000 Crimean Tatars, who were shipped in cattle cars to remote destinations in Russia and Soviet Central Asia, will take place without the participation of Tatarstan's pro-Kremlin authorities.
The small event in the capital of Russia's Republic of Tatarstan illustrates the complex relations between the two Tatar communities -- relations that are further complicated by the Kremlin's efforts to use the loyal officials in Kazan to help minimize resistance from Crimean Tatars to Moscow's unrecognized annexation of the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula in March.
Read the entire article here
13:00
15.5.2014
13:15
15.5.2014
13:19
15.5.2014
Meanwhile, this just in from our news desk:
A senior U.S. official says Washington and its European allies have found "broad unity" that Russia should face sector-based sanctions if Moscow tries to disrupt Ukrainian presidential elections later this month.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry briefed some key European Union foreign ministers in London today on U.S. thinking about sanctions against Russia, which would cover some of Russia's largest sectors, including mining and gas.
Kerry met with his counterparts from Britain, France, Germany, and Italy ahead of a meeting on Syria.
A senior State Department official, who spoke under condition of anonymity, said, "There was broad unity...that if the [May 25 presidential] elections are disrupted and Moscow's hand is behind that, we need to move to sectoral sanctions."
He added that "there was no dissent on that subject."
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry briefed some key European Union foreign ministers in London today on U.S. thinking about sanctions against Russia, which would cover some of Russia's largest sectors, including mining and gas.
Kerry met with his counterparts from Britain, France, Germany, and Italy ahead of a meeting on Syria.
A senior State Department official, who spoke under condition of anonymity, said, "There was broad unity...that if the [May 25 presidential] elections are disrupted and Moscow's hand is behind that, we need to move to sectoral sanctions."
He added that "there was no dissent on that subject."
13:29
15.5.2014
"How Europe Enables Putin" Good reality check by @BV. http://t.co/rCwimDeXED
— Jakub Parusinski (@j_parus) May 15, 2014
13:43
15.5.2014
More gas-related developments from RFE/RL's news desk:
President Vladimir Putin says that, starting in June, Russia will deliver gas to Ukraine only if it pays in advance.
The warning came in an open letter to European leaders released by the Kremlin on May 15.
Putin said state-controlled Gazprom has been forced to demand advance payments after Ukraine's debt reached $3.5 billion.
Putin also called on the European Union to "more actively engage" in finding ways to stabilize Ukraine's crisis-hit economy.
Putin first warned Russia will demand that Ukraine pay in advance for Russian gas in a letter to European leaders last month.
Ukraine has said it could start paying off its debt if Moscow restored the lower gas price Kyiv was paying before pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in February.
Gazprom more than doubled the price of gas for Ukraine after Yanukovych was ousted.
The warning came in an open letter to European leaders released by the Kremlin on May 15.
Putin said state-controlled Gazprom has been forced to demand advance payments after Ukraine's debt reached $3.5 billion.
Putin also called on the European Union to "more actively engage" in finding ways to stabilize Ukraine's crisis-hit economy.
Putin first warned Russia will demand that Ukraine pay in advance for Russian gas in a letter to European leaders last month.
Ukraine has said it could start paying off its debt if Moscow restored the lower gas price Kyiv was paying before pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in February.
Gazprom more than doubled the price of gas for Ukraine after Yanukovych was ousted.
14:01
15.5.2014
At least someone (i.e. the Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs) seems to have liked John Pilger's heavily criticized op-ed piece on Ukraine for "The Guardian" yesterday:
14:04
15.5.2014
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is giving a press conference right now. He has reiterated an earlier statement from a senior State Department official that certain sectors of Russian industry would be hit by sanctions if Moscow hampers the May 25 presidential poll in Ukraine.
14:14
15.5.2014