20:54
29.5.2014
Barring any major developments, that's it for another day. Join us tomorrow.
07:42
30.5.2014
Looking ahead, our news desk reports:
Officials from the European Union, Russia, and Ukraine are due to meet in Berlin on May 30 to try to resolve a natural gas dispute between Moscow and Kyiv.
EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger is to represent the EU at the talks.
Russia's state-owned gas giant Gazprom says Ukraine's gas debt will amount to some $5.2 billion by June 7, and has set a June 2 deadline for Kyiv to pay that debt.
On May 28, Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak insisted Ukraine must pay at least $2 billion by May 30 or face gas cuts beginning on June 3.
The EU is worried a suspension of Russian gas shipments to Ukraine would leave some EU countries either with reduced supplies or totally cut off from Russian deliveries that pass through pipelines in Ukraine. (Reuters, AFP, and ITAR-TASS)
EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger is to represent the EU at the talks.
Russia's state-owned gas giant Gazprom says Ukraine's gas debt will amount to some $5.2 billion by June 7, and has set a June 2 deadline for Kyiv to pay that debt.
On May 28, Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak insisted Ukraine must pay at least $2 billion by May 30 or face gas cuts beginning on June 3.
The EU is worried a suspension of Russian gas shipments to Ukraine would leave some EU countries either with reduced supplies or totally cut off from Russian deliveries that pass through pipelines in Ukraine. (Reuters, AFP, and ITAR-TASS)
07:43
30.5.2014
Looking ahead, our news desk reports:
Ukraine’s crisis is the main item on the agenda for lawmakers from 28 NATO member countries who are gathering in Vilnius on May 30 for the spring session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
The gathering comes amid heightened concerns in the Baltic states and Eastern Europe about Russia’s role in Ukraine’s crisis.
The assembly -- which also includes delegates from NATO partner countries, the European parliament, and various international organizations -- is expected to adopt a resolution on Ukraine.
Regarding NATO’s future eastward enlargement, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly is expected to create a new document stressing the need for the alliance to leave the door open for future expansion.
Andriy Parubiy, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, is expected at the May 30 plenary session along with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
The gathering comes amid heightened concerns in the Baltic states and Eastern Europe about Russia’s role in Ukraine’s crisis.
The assembly -- which also includes delegates from NATO partner countries, the European parliament, and various international organizations -- is expected to adopt a resolution on Ukraine.
Regarding NATO’s future eastward enlargement, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly is expected to create a new document stressing the need for the alliance to leave the door open for future expansion.
Andriy Parubiy, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, is expected at the May 30 plenary session along with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
07:45
30.5.2014
08:03
30.5.2014
"The New York Times" on yesterday's "coup" in Donetsk:
08:16
30.5.2014
This adds to the one team of OSCE monitors already being held in Donetsk.
08:49
30.5.2014
09:53
30.5.2014
LATEST from our news desk:
Ukraine's acting defense minister says forces will press ahead with a military offensive against rebels in the east until peace and order have been restored.
10:20
30.5.2014
This is purportedly the supermarket looted by the separatists in Donetsk that led the Vostok Battalion to evict them from their HQ in the regional administration building.
10:27
30.5.2014
Expanding on the initial report from our news desk:
Ukraine's acting defense minister says government forces have "completely cleared" pro-Russian rebels from parts of the separatist east and will press on with an offensive until peace and order have been restored.
Mykhaylo Koval was speaking to reporters in Kyiv on May 30, one day after 14 government troops, including a general, were killed when rebels shot down an army helicopter.
"Our armed forces have completed their assigned missions and completely cleared the southern and western parts of the Donetsk region and the northern part of the Luhansk region from the separatists," Koval said.
"Our given task is to bring peace and order to the region," he added.
Koval also repeated charges that Russia was carrying out "special operations" in eastern Ukraine.
He said Ukrainian forces would continue with military operations in border areas "until these regions begin to live normally, until there is peace." (Reuters and AFP)
Mykhaylo Koval was speaking to reporters in Kyiv on May 30, one day after 14 government troops, including a general, were killed when rebels shot down an army helicopter.
"Our armed forces have completed their assigned missions and completely cleared the southern and western parts of the Donetsk region and the northern part of the Luhansk region from the separatists," Koval said.
"Our given task is to bring peace and order to the region," he added.
Koval also repeated charges that Russia was carrying out "special operations" in eastern Ukraine.
He said Ukrainian forces would continue with military operations in border areas "until these regions begin to live normally, until there is peace." (Reuters and AFP)