14:46
3.6.2014
And here are remarks from Gazprom Deputy Chairman Aleksandr Medvedev and company spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov at a news conference in Moscow about talks with Ukraine over gas prices.
Medvedev:
"Gazprom once again agreed to a compromise by delaying the introduction of the advance payment system by one more week until June 9."
"We are doing everything possible for the process to go in a normal way. Of course, it is good when they slowly start to give you money back, but there is an agreed sum that should be repaid, and it has not been repaid in full. More than $1.5 billion are still due."
Kupriyanov:
"We need to reach an agreement. If we hold a very soft position then we will not be able to agree on terms which would be acceptable to us and to our country. But on the other hand if we are not flexible towards our Ukrainian colleagues and don't give them space to manoeuvre, we will reach a dead end too."
"Gazprom once again agreed to a compromise by delaying the introduction of the advance payment system by one more week until June 9."
"We are doing everything possible for the process to go in a normal way. Of course, it is good when they slowly start to give you money back, but there is an agreed sum that should be repaid, and it has not been repaid in full. More than $1.5 billion are still due."
Kupriyanov:
"We need to reach an agreement. If we hold a very soft position then we will not be able to agree on terms which would be acceptable to us and to our country. But on the other hand if we are not flexible towards our Ukrainian colleagues and don't give them space to manoeuvre, we will reach a dead end too."
14:58
3.6.2014
15:03
3.6.2014
Ukrainian authorities do not appear to have commented on this question since the immediate aftermath of the blast, which they blamed on mishandling of anti-aircraft weapon, presumably in the hands of separatists. I would note that despite the headline, "Arms Experts Conclude Ukraine Likely Fired Rockets In Lugansk Airstrike," they quote a single expert.
15:11
3.6.2014
15:19
3.6.2014
One of a number of photos of the damaged Luhansk Border Guards Service facility that was besieged. Ponomarov says the "Luhansk People's Republic" has given Ukrainian servicemen a deadline of 6:00 p.m. to surrender.
15:19
3.6.2014
15:20
3.6.2014
15:22
3.6.2014
Some AP video of Obama speaking in Warsaw, saying that the United States is committed to bolstering the security of its allies in Central and Eastern Europe amid the instability in Ukraine.
15:36
3.6.2014
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says NATO “firmly maintains its support” to Ukraine’s territorial integrity. He also calls on Russia to withdraw its forces from Ukraine’s border and to stop supporting armed separatists in Ukraine. Rasmussen is speaking at a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission at the defense ministers' level in Brussels.
