Russia And The West Rattle Sabers And Renew Sanctions
Though Russian and Western officials repeatedly claim they don’t want a return to Cold War-era hostility, both sides have renewed sanctions and toughened their military posture in recent days.
Ukrainian President Orders Evacuation Corridors To Help Civilians Escape Fighting
By Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Tuesday ordered government security agencies to help civilians escape separatist fighting and relocate to safety, his office announced. The order to create civilian evocation routes out of areas where at least 200 people have died in more than two months of fighting coincides […]
Obama Says U.S. Backs Ukraine Fight Against Pro-Russia Separatists
By Kathleen Hennessey, Tribune Washington Bureau WARSAW, Poland — Pledging support for a new and fragile government, President Barack Obama told Ukraine’s president-elect Wednesday that the U.S. will continue to back Kiev’s fight against separatists. “The United States is absolutely committed to standing behind the Ukrainian people, not just in the coming days and weeks […]
Ukraine Reports Advances In Fight Against Separatists
By Sergei L. Loiko, Los Angeles Times MOSCOW — Ukrainian authorities claimed significant progress Tuesday in their off-and-on fight against Russian separatists in the east of the country, but the separatists said the claims were exaggerated. Parliament speaker Olexander Turchinov said Ukrainian army and security forces stormed a secret “terrorist” camp in the Donetsk region, […]
Obama Seeks To Reassure European Allies Amid Ukraine Crisis
By Kathleen Hennessey, Tribune Washington Bureau WARSAW — Amid worries about a rise of Russian aggression, President Barack Obama landed in Eastern Europe Tuesday offering new reassurances and a show of military muscle aimed at keeping Moscow in check. Under drizzling morning rain, Obama was greeted at the airport by Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski on […]
Russian Rebel Attack On Ukraine Border Kills 5
By Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times At least five pro-Russia separatists were killed Monday in a failed attack on a Ukrainian border guards base, the second large-scale operation in a week by insurgents apparently bent on taking key government facilities ahead of Ukraine’s presidential inauguration Saturday. The predawn assault on the Ukrainian base in […]
Putin Orders Russian Troops To Pull Back From Ukraine Border
By Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered Kremlin troops to pull back from the border with Ukraine after weeks of military exercises that the Kiev government and Western allies accused of heightening tensions between the two former Soviet republics. Putin, who heads to China for economic and political […]
Ukrainians More Inclined To Ally With EU, NATO In Wake Of Russian Actions, Survey Says
By Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times KIEV, Ukraine — Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula and alleged support of pro-Russia separatists elsewhere in Ukraine are driving more Ukrainians to favor alliance with the European Union and NATO, a Kiev social researcher reported Wednesday. That is exactly the economic and security shift the Kremlin has […]
Ukraine Separatist Votes Draw Kremlin ‘Respect,’ Not Annexation
By Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times DONETSK, Ukraine — Kremlin leaders on Monday declared their “respect” for the choice of independence expressed by voters in two regions of eastern Ukraine in a referendum widely denounced by the outside world as illegal and dangerous encouragement of militants angling to divide Ukraine. The Kremlin statement made […]
Russia Threatens To Cut Off Ukraine Gas From June 3
Moscow (AFP) – Russia’s state gas giant Gazprom warned on Monday it may halt shipments to Ukraine on June 3 in a repeat of previous energy wars that hit Europe. Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller said Russia’s crisis-torn neighbor must pay upfront for its June deliveries because of debts totaling $3.51 billion (2.55 billion euros). […]
Police Prove To Be Another Weak Link In Ukraine’s Efforts To Keep The Peace
By Matthew Schofield, McClatchy Foreign Staff KIEV, Ukraine — The scene has been repeated again and again across Ukraine in recent weeks: Protesters storm a building or an opposing group, and police, often decked out in full riot gear, stand and watch. For many seeing the scenes on video, they verge on the unfathomable. Time […]
Ukraine Mayor In Critical Condition After Being Shot In The Back
By Sergei L. Loiko, Los Angeles Times DONETSK, Ukraine — In a sign of the deepening destabilization of eastern Ukraine, the popular mayor of Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, was shot in the back on Monday, authorities said. Mayor Gennady Kernes was in critical condition after undergoing surgery at a local clinic, said Dr. Valery […]
U.S. Stocks Gain Despite Fresh Ukraine Tensions
New York (AFP) – U.S. stocks pushed higher in early trade Monday even as the West jacked up pressure on Russia with fresh sanctions over Ukraine. About 45 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 99.51 points (0.61 percent) at 16,460.97. The broad-based S&P 500 gained 9.15 (0.49 percent) at 1,872.55, while […]
Russia Warns It Will ‘Respond’ If Interests In Ukraine Attacked
By Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday accused the United States of orchestrating the Ukraine crisis for geopolitical gain and warned that Russia will “certainly respond” if its interests in Ukraine are attacked. In an interview with state-run Russia Today television, Lavrov linked Vice President Joe Biden’s visit […]
Pentagon Orders 600 Troops To Eastern Europe, Criticizes Russia
By David S. Cloud, Tribune Washington Bureau WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said Tuesday that it was sending 600 soldiers to Eastern Europe for military exercises in response to “aggression” by Russia in Ukraine, the first U.S. ground forces dispatched to the region in the 2-month-old crisis. The 173rd Infantry Brigade, a U.S. Army airborne unit […]
Biden Arrives In Kiev As Russia Blames U.S. For Ukraine Crisis
By Sergei L. Loiko and Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times KIEV, Ukraine — U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Kiev on Monday for talks with Ukraine’s embattled interim leaders as Russia’s top diplomat blamed Washington for instigating the crisis that threatens to escalate into armed conflict between the two former Soviet republics. In […]
Biden Lands In Kiev As Russia Accuses Ukraine Of Breaching Deal
Kiev (AFP) – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Kiev Monday in a show of support for the pro-Western government, as Russia accused Ukraine of reneging on an international accord meant to defuse tensions over its separatist east. Biden’s two-day visit comes with the clock ticking on a White House warning of further sanctions […]
Russia Tightens Economic Noose On Ukraine As Armed Showdowns Persist
By Carol J. Williams and Sergei L. Loiko, Los Angeles Times MOSCOW — As armed standoffs persisted in eastern Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin tightened the economic screws on his impoverished neighbor Wednesday by warning that Ukraine may have to pay in advance for its gas imports from Russia. The predominantly state-held Gazprom energy behemoth […]
U.S. Issues Fresh Warning To Russia Over Turmoil In Ukraine
By Paul Richter, Tribune Washington Bureau WASHINGTON — The Obama administration Monday accused Russia of promoting separatist agitation in eastern Ukraine and threatened to step up economic sanctions on Moscow unless it reverses course. As pro-Russia separatists in the eastern region seized government buildings and demanded votes on secession, Washington strongly suggested that Moscow was […]
Pro-Russia Demonstrators Declare Independent Republic In Eastern Ukraine
By Sergei L. Loiko, Los Angeles Times MOSCOW — Pro-Russia demonstrators who seized the regional administrative building in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk announced Monday that they were declaring an independent republic and would hold a referendum about joining the region with Moscow. The country’s acting president, Olexandr Turchinov, blamed Russia for the unrest and […]
Ousted Ukrainian Leader Laments Country’s Loss Of Crimea
By Sergei L. Loiko, Los Angeles Times MOSCOW — Ukraine’s ousted president on Wednesday lamented the loss of Crimea to Russia as “a grave pain and tragedy very difficult to come to terms with” but insisted the current interim government in Kiev was solely responsible for the region’s annexation. “I personally can’t agree” to the […]
NATO Suspends Ties With Russia, Urges International Law Compliance
By Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times NATO foreign ministers suspended civilian and military cooperation with Russia on Tuesday and ordered plans for bolstering defenses in Eastern Europe to show the Kremlin that it will protect allies in the region from any further Russian aggression, alliance sources told news agencies in Brussels. In their first […]
Russian Prime Minister Visits Crimea, Promises Investment
By Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Monday paid the highest-level Kremlin visit to Crimea since the territory was seized from Ukraine last month, and promised lavish investment and aid for the newly annexed region’s 2 million residents. Medvedev led a Russian government delegation to Crimea’s capital, Simferopol, and […]
Russian Forces ‘Gradually Withdrawing’ From Ukraine Border
Kiev (AFP) – Ukraine on Monday reported a gradual withdrawal of Russian troops from its border that may be linked to Washington’s latest push for a diplomatic solution to the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War. The announcement came in the wake of a four-hour meeting in Paris on Sunday between US Secretary of […]
Ukraine To Hike Gas Rates By 50% For IMF Loan
Kiev (AFP) – Ukraine agreed on Wednesday to quickly hike domestic gas prices by as much as 50 percent to meet a key loan condition set by the International Monetary Fund for the crisis-hit ex-Soviet state. The new Western-backed government in Kiev is seeking $15-20 billion (11-14.5 billion euros) in IMF assistance in order to […]