#Ukraine Summary of The Events of Tuesday, March 4: • Russia and the United States engaged in a war of words over Ukraine, but perceived restraint in the Russian posture produced a partial recovery in world markets and cautious optimism among diplomats. • President Vladimir Putin ended military exercises near Ukraine’s border. In a news conference he called the use of force in Ukraine a ‘last resort’ and said Russia would not go to war with the Ukrainian people. • It wasn’t all restraint: troops under Russian command fired warning shots into the air at Belbek air base in Crimea when they were approached by unarmed, marching Ukrainian soldiers who wanted base access. The incident ended without bloodshed. • At the news conference, Putin also denied that Russian forces were in Crimea, said terrorists threatened Ukrainian security and said the West had interfered in Ukraine like “experimenting on lab rats”. • US secretary of state John Kerry appeared in Kiev and accused Putin of lying about the security situation in Ukraine, the dynamics of the revolution there and the presence of Russian troops in the country. President Barack Obama echoed Kerry. • Kerry asked Moscow to de-escalate by fully withdrawing troops in Crimea into barracks and by welcoming international monitors. An OSCE group was to begin arriving in Ukraine Wednesday. • If Moscow did not de-escalate, Kerry said, international partners would take further steps after having begun work on sanctions, suspended preparations for June’s G8 summit in Sochi, suspended military contacts and suspended economic dialogue. • Both the EU and the US prepared targeted sanctions against Russia, although Europe was widely seen as hesitant to threaten trade relations with Russia or to refuse the money of oligarchs living there, and a disagreement was brewing between the White House and Congress. • EU leaders were to meet Thursday on sanctions. A timetable of Ukraine-related diplomatic activity is here. • The United States pledged a $1bn assistance package for Ukraine. Ukraine said it owed Russia $2bn in gas payments. The European Union was set to announce a package Wednesday. • Nato released a statement of solidarity following a meeting called by Poland under Article 4 of the Washington Treaty. The Nato-Russia council was to meet Wednesday. • Moscow and Kiev were talking.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 00:46:13 +0000
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