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Mar. 13, 2014

Retribution against Lenta.ru, one of Russia's most popular independent online news organizations, serves as an ominous warning about the state of media in the country as the conflict over Ukraine deepens.MORE

Pres Obama hosts Ukraine's interim Prime Min Arseniy P Yatsenyuk at the White House and the two open door to a political solution that could lead to more autonomy for Crimea if Russian troops withdraw; meeting comes as the United States embarks on a last-ditch diplomatic effort to defuse a crisis that has reignited tensions between East and West.MORE

Ukraine's interim Prime Min Arseniy P Yatsenyuk has entered a role that suits him better than that of street revolutionary, given his background as former foreign minister, economics minister, speaker of Parliament and acting central bank chief; Yatsenyuk is now said by some Ukrainians to be the right man at the right moment, despite having been derided as an uninspiring technician during his failed presidential campaign of 2010.MORE

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing a perhaps historic decision on whether to take a harder line against Russia over the crisis in Ukraine; Merkel, who grew up in East Germany and speaks fluent Russian, has emerged as a pivotal leader in the crisis as the only one who might sway Pres Vladimir V Putin, but she has so far been unable to do so.MORE

Dmytro Yarosh, leader of Ukraine's far-right coalition known as Right Sector, says he is running for president; while Russian media has demonized men like Yarosh for pulling off coup in Kiev, little is known about him beyond lifetime involvement in right-wing causes.MORE

News analysis; China is struggling to find neutral diplomatic position on Russian occupation of Crimea, Ukraine; China wants to avoid alienating ally against diplomatic and economic might of West, but is wary of supporting referendum on Crimea's secession from Ukraine, bringing it uncomfortably close to approving independence for Tibet or Taiwan.MORE

Op-Ed article by Oleksandr V Turchynov, acting president of Ukraine, asserts that Ukraine has proved that it has matured into an independent state that will determine its own domestic and foreign policy; warns that further Russian use of force will not be tolerated; notes that the rule of law and credibility of international institutions will be undermined if Russia violates Ukraine's sovereignty and the United States and Europe do not stand by their treaty obligations.MORE

Airport in Simferopol, Ukraine, closes to all flights except those heading to and from Moscow, in boldest display yet of Russia's tightening control over Crimea; severing of air links between Crimea and Kiev raises possibility that peninsula may be closed off indefinitely from rest of Ukraine.MORE

Obama administration is torn over how severely to punish Russia economically for invading Crimea, Ukraine; while some argue for swift use of sanctions to badly damage Russian economy, others are wary of ruinous options that could alienate allies and provoke dangerous cycle of retaliation.MORE

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Ukraine News - Breaking World Ukraine News - The New York ...

Kiev, Ukraine Ukraine accused Russia on Wednesday of conducting a large military buildup near the countries border that raises the threat of an invasion, but Moscow denied that.

Andriy Parubiy, secretary of Ukraines National Security and Defense Council, told reporters in Kiev that Russia has deployed more than 80,000 troops, up to 270 tanks and 140 combat planes close to the border, creating the threat of a full-scale invasion from various directions.

Parubiy said Russian troops are based in the immediate vicinity of the Ukrainian border, some of them as close as a two- or three-hour drive from Kiev, the Ukrainian capital.

In Moscow, Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov denied a military buildup on the nearly 1,250-mile border.

He also said Moscow has accepted a request that Ukraine made Tuesday to conduct a surveillance flight over Russian territory.

Russian forces have secured control over Ukraines Crimean Peninsula, and Russias parliament has given President Vladimir Putin permission to use the military to protect Russian speakers in Ukraine.

Crimea plans to hold a referendum on Sunday that will ask residents if they want the territory to become part of Russia. Ukraines government and Western nations have denounced the referendum as illegitimate and warned Russia against trying to annex Crimea.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama expressed hope Wednesday that the referendum can be halted, as he met with the new leader of the former Soviet republic.

Sitting side by side in the Oval Office with Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Obama said he hoped last-ditch diplomatic efforts might lead to a rethinking of the referendum.

As Obama and Yatsenyuk met, a U.S. Senate committee advanced a measure to impose significant sanctions on Russia a bid to pressure Putin to pull Russian troops out of Crimea. The measure, which now would go to the full Senate, would authorize $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraines new government and allow the Obama administration to impose economic penalties on Russian officials responsible for the intervention in Crimea or culpable of gross corruption.

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Ukraine alleges Russian military buildup on border

Ukraine's parliament appealed on Thursday to the United Nations to discuss the occupation by Russian forces of its Crimea peninsula and said it reserved the right to ask individual countries for help in resolving the issue.

In a debate hours before Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk was to address the Security Council in New York, some members called for a U.N. peacekeeping force, though the resolution that was passed did not specify that form of assistance.

In a second vote, the chamber endorsed a document confirming that Ukraine sought deeper integration with the European Union.

A total of 250 members in the 450-seat assembly, which last month removed a Moscow-backed president, endorsed the appeal to the U.N., citing the "flagrant violation by the Russian Federation of the fundamental principles of international law".

Ukraine, the appeal said, reserved the right to ask "any state or regional system of collective security for help in restoring its sovereignty".

"Parliament must ask the U.N. to bring in a peacekeeping contingent," Oles Doniy, an independent member allied with parties favoring integration with Europe, told the chamber. "We cannot compete with Russia on our own."

But with Crimea now firmly in Moscow's hands for more than a week ahead of a referendum this Sunday on joining Russia, the parliament split along political lines.

Pro-European parties voted in favor.

Only two members of ousted president Viktor Yanukovich's Party of Regions voted in favor while others, saying they wanted first to see the outcome of Sunday's plebiscite in Crimea. Communists also abstained.

The appeal made no specific reference to the U.N. Security Council. Pro-European member Borys Tarasyuk, a former foreign minister, said such a move would be pointless as Russia enjoyed veto power in the 15-member Council.

Excerpt from:

Ukraine parliament appeals to U.N. over Crimea

March 13, 2014

Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk (third right) poses for pictures at a meeting with members of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including chairman Senator Bob Menendez and ranking member Senator Bob Corker at the US Capitol in Washington yesterday. Reuters pic, March 13, 2014.Ukraine was set today to form a National Guard against Russia's expansionist threat after US President Barack Obama gave firm backing to the new leader from Kiev in a hardening Cold War-style standoff with the Kremlin.

The Verkhovna Rada parliament was expected to support the initial mobilisation of reservists and creation of a new force of at least 20,000 volunteers who could keep Russian troops from advancing beyond the Crimean peninsula they seized at the start of the month.

National Security and Defence Council chief Andriy Parubiy said the new guard would "ensure state security, defend the borders, and eliminate terrorist groups" a term many in Kiev use to call the well-armed militias who patrol Crimea alongside Russian troops.

The flaring crisis on the eastern edge of Europe was sparked by the ouster last month of a pro-Kremlin regime that prompted President Vladimir Putin to seek and win the right to use force against a neighbour for the first time since a brief 2008 war with Georgia.

The new more nationalist but pro-European team that rose to power in Kiev on the back of the deadly popular uprising is viewed with derision by Putin and increasing warmth by leaders in the West.

Putin's March 1 decision to order troops into Crimea for the "protection" of the Russian-speaking majority there now threatens to bring down waves of political and economic sanctions that could leave the Kremlin more isolated from the West than at any point since the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall.

But Russia's parliament is still due to consider legislation next week simplifying the process for the annexation of Crimea a strong possibility after the Black Sea region holds a hotly disputed referendum on Sunday on switching over to Kremlin rule.

The European Union is due to consider travel bans and asset freezes on Monday against Russian officials held responsible for threatening Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Brussels is also expected next week to offer Ukraine a chance to sign an historic EU trade pact whose abrupt November rejection in favour of closer ties with Russia sparked the initial wave of Kiev unrest.

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White House: Obama Speaks With Russian President Putin Amid Ukraine Crisis
The President delivered a statement about the events unfolding in Ukraine, and reaffirmed that the United States will continue to coordinate closely with our...

By: Hdiso Myiko

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White House: Obama Speaks With Russian President Putin Amid Ukraine Crisis - Video