Section: San Francisco Chronicle (USA)
Donetsk cleans up from shelling in eastern Ukraine
Representatives of Ukraine, Russia, and the Moscow-backed rebels arrived in Minsk for the talks that many hope could bring a permanent political solution to the region, as civilian casualties continue to rise, despite a cease-fire imposed in the region on Sept. 5. Leonid Kuchma, the former Ukrainian president who is Kiev’s envoy to the...
Ukraine’s pleas for lethal aid from US go unmet
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States will provide $46 million in new security assistance to the Ukraine’s military but stop short of fulfilling an urgent request from Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko for lethal aid to help his country fight Russian-backed separatists. Ahead of Thursday’s White House meeting, U.S. officials said...
NATO to fast-track rapid-reaction force
Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow, the highest-ranking U.S. civilian at NATO, told The Associated Press on the sidelines of a symposium in Poland that military planners were now “working seven days a week” to finalize details of the force. Ukraine is not a NATO member and not directly under its defense umbrella, but three...
Ukraine reports sporadic violations of cease-fire
[…] Col. Andriy Lysenko, spokesman for Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, told journalists on Thursday that an emergency worker was killed by fighting near Donetsk’s airport. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin told ITAR TASS news agency that Moscow expects Friday’s meeting of the Contact Group...
Polish fears of Russia run high on war anniversary
Though she was half joking, her comment revealed an anxiety Poles express frequently these days — that Russian aggression in Ukraine could spread, upending this NATO and European Union member’s most peaceful and prosperous era in centuries. The woman was the third Pole in the past couple weeks to advise me to think twice about investing in...
Tycoon’s arrest sends shock wave through Russia
MOSCOW (AP) — The arrest of a Russian telecoms and oil tycoon has sent shock waves through the country’s business community, with some fearing a return to the dark days of a decade ago, when the Kremlin asserted its power by imprisoning the country’s then-richest man and expropriating his companies. Market watchers are almost...
Shelling in eastern Ukraine, at least 1 dead
Despite the cease-fire and a law passed by the Ukrainian parliament Tuesday granting greater autonomy to rebel-held parts of the east, civilian casualties have continued to rise, adding to the estimated 3,000 people killed. …read more Source: San Francisco...
Ukraine lawmakers OK EU pact, autonomy and amnesty for rebels
Ukrainian lawmakers Tuesday endorsed an association agreement with the European Union, making a decisive turn in favor of closer relations with Western neighbors in spite of the 10-month-old conflict that possibility has ignited with Russia. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko must first sign the autonomy bill and bring it into force, Alexander...
Ukraine parliament ratifies EU pact
The ratification vote in Kiev, synchronized with the European parliament by video chat, was met with a standing ovation, and members of parliament leapt to their feet to sing the Ukrainian national anthem. Poroshenko also said that those who died during the protests and during fighting in the east “gave up their lives so that we could take...
Ukraine passes bills on eastern autonomy
DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s parliament has passed two bills on granting greater autonomy to the rebellious regions in the east as well as amnesty for most of those involved in the fighting that gripped the region since April. The Tuesday vote in a closed session comes on the same day that parliament planned to ratify a trade deal with...
