World News liveblog
Reuters live coverage of events around the world. Follow @ReutersWorld on Twitter for top news and @ReutersLive for live video events.
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Russia test-fires intercontinental ballistic missile: RIA citing Defence Ministry -
New Yorker [SATIRE]: Putin receives strong words of support in ninety-minute conversation with self
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Russia says it would retaliate for U.S. sanctions over Ukraine
Russia said on Tuesday that it would retaliate if the United States imposed sanctions over Moscow's actions in Ukraine.
"We will have to respond," Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement. "As always in such situations, provoked by rash and irresponsible actions by Washington, we stress: this is not our choice."
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Ukraine says its communications have been hit, parliament members' phones blocked
Ukraine's telecommunications system has come under attack, with equipment installed in Russian-controlled Crimea used to interfere with the mobile phones of members of parliament, the head of Ukraine's SBU security service said on Tuesday.
Some Internet and telephone services were severed after Russian forces seized control of airfields and key installations in Ukraine's Crimea region on Friday, but now lawmakers were being targeted, Valentyn Nalivaichenko told a news briefing.
"I confirm that an...attack is under way on mobile phones of members of Ukrainian parliament for the second day in row," the security chief told a news briefing.
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Russia is looking for pretext to invade more of Ukraine: Kerry
KIEV - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday condemned Russia's "act of aggression" in Ukraine and said Moscow, which has taken control of the Crimea region, was looking for a pretext to invade more of the country.
"The United States reaffirms our commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity according to international law. We condemn the Russian Federation's act of aggression," Kerry told a news conference during a visit to Kiev intended to show support for Ukraine's new leaders.
"It is clear that Russia has been working hard to create a pretext for being able to invade further," he said.
(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton, Editing by Timothy Heritage) -
If Ukraine has legitimate election there should be no question that Ukrainian people are capable of governing themselves: Obama
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That's a wrap on Kerry, who notes, "We've got a schedule to stay on." Stay tuned for more news and updates.
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There is still opportunity for Russia to help international community stabilize situation in Ukraine: Obama
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Russian move into Ukraine not a sign of strength but signal that neighboring countries have deep concerns about Russian "meddling": Obama
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Kerry says he hopes Putin will step back and listen carefully, that U.S. is not looking for a major confrontation: Reuters
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It is clear that Russia has been working hard to create a pretext to be able to invade further: Kerry
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Secretary of State John Kerry stands beside a barricade at the Shrine of the Fallen in Kiev March 4, 2014. The Shrine of the Fallen, located on Institutska Street, honors the fallen Heroes of the "Heavenly Sotnya" (Hundred). Over the course of the EuroMaidan protests, almost 100 protesters were killed by police. Most of them died on February 20 killed by sniper or automatic weapons fire on Institutska Street. Kerry arrived in Kiev on Tuesday and announced an economic package and technical assistance for Ukraine in a show of support for its new government amid escalating tensions with Russia. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
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The United States will stand by the Ukrainian people as they build the strong, sovereign... country they deserve: Kerry
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We should not see nations step backwards to behave in 19th or 20th century fashion: Kerry
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We're also working with the interim government [in Ukraine] to help combat corruption and to recover stolen assets: Kerry
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We are working closely... with the IMF team and with international partners in order to develop an assistance package [for Ukraine]: Kerry
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The United States and its partners will support Ukraine: Kerry
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"I come here today at the instruction of President Obama to make it absolutely clear that the United States of America would prefer to see this de-escalate." - Secretary of State Kerry, in Kiev
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Secretary of State Kerry condemns Russia's act of aggression in Ukraine during address in Kiev: Reuters
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NATO to intensify assessment of Ukrainian conflict's impact
BRUSSELS - NATO allies stand in solidarity in the face of the Ukraine crisis and will intensify their assessment of how it affects the alliance's security, NATO Secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Tuesday.
Speaking after a meeting of NATO ambassadors, convened at the request of Poland, Rasmussen also said Russia continued to violate its international commitments towards Ukraine despite calls for Moscow to de-escalate the conflict.
"NATO allies stand together in the spirit of strong solidarity in this grave crisis. We undertake to intensify our rigorous ongoing assessment of the implications of this crisis for our alliance's security," Rasmussen told reporters.
(Reporting by Justyna Pawlak and Martin Santa, editing by Jan Strupczewski) -
NATO allies stand together in face of Ukraine conflict, will intensify assessment of impact on NATO security: Rasmussen
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Reuters Picture: A Russian soldier watches Ukrainian servicemen at Belbek airport in the Crimea region March 4, 2014. A column of unarmed Ukrainian servicemen arrived at the base for negotiations with Russian troops on Tuesday, local media reported. REUTERS/Baz Ratner
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Putin's "exposed crotch" body language is astonishing sign of his confidence #ukraine
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) March 4, 2014 -
Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in a news conference at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow March 4, 2014. REUTERS/Alexei Nikolskiy/RIA Novosti/Kremlin
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Britain says co-operating with Ukraine over "stolen assets"
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Tuesday it had been given a list of people suspected of being involved in the theft of Ukrainian assets and that a British team would soon travel to Kiev to seek further evidence.
Since the toppling of President Viktor Yanukovich, Ukrainian prosecutors have accused him and his aides of stealing billions of dollars. Speaking from Russia, Yanukovich has said he has no foreign bank accounts or property abroad.
When asked in parliament why Britain had not frozen any Ukrainian assets, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "I discussed with the Prime Minister of Ukraine yesterday our eagerness to assist with the return of stolen assets and their recovery for Ukraine.
"For the first time yesterday the Ukrainian government gave us a list of those involved - they had not done so previously. I have agreed with the prime minister of Ukraine to send a team urgently to Ukraine in order to advise the Ukrainians on the information they would need to provide to us for us to be able to act on it." -
Russia's Putin denies Yanukovich rumours, says met him two days ago
NOVO-OGARYOVO, Russia (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday he had met ousted Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovich two days ago in Russia and he was "safe and sound".
He dismissed rumours that Yanukovich had died of a heart attack, saying the ousted leader would attend the funerals of the rumour mongers. -
A boy photographs military personnel, believed to be Russian servicemen, standing outside the territory of a Ukrainian military unit in the village of Perevalnoye outside Simferopol, March 4, 2014. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili
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Putin says will not recognise any Ukrainian election held amid "terror"
NOVO-OGARYOVO, Russia (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday Russia would not recognise the results of elections in Ukraine which were held under the current conditions of "terror".
"If they are held under such terror as we see now, then we won't (recognise them)," Putin told a news conference. -
Ukraine hit by cyberattacks - head of Ukraine security service
(Reuters) - Ukraine's telecommunications system has come under attack, with equipment installed in Russian-controlled Crimea used to interfere with the mobile phones of members of parliament, the head of Ukraine's SBU security service said on Tuesday.
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Ukrainian service men wait at the Belbek airport in the Crimea region March 4, 2014. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko
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Russia's Putin told Yanukovich he has "no political future"
NOVO-OGARYOVO, Russia (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday he had told Ukraine's ousted leader, Viktor Yanukovich, that he had "no political future" but that the man would have been murdered if he stayed at home.
Putin told a news conference that pulling Russia's ambassador to Washington from his post over events in Ukraine would be a "last resort" and that he would not like this to happen. -
Poland summons Russian ambassador over Ukraine crisis
WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland has summoned the Russian ambassador in Warsaw over the crisis in Ukraine, Poland's foreign ministry said.
"Russian aggression and violating of Ukraine territorial integrity unacceptable," ministry spokesman Marcin Wojciechowski said in a post on Twitter in which he announced the ambassador had been summoned. -
Ukraine confirms OSCE to go to Crimea, situation there "stable"
KIEV (Reuters) - Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will go to the Crimea region where Russian forces have taken control, Ukraine's top security official said on Tuesday.
Andriy Paruby told a news conference that the security situation on the Black sea peninsula was complicated but stable. -
Russia's Putin says sanctions would harm countries imposing them
NOVO-OGARYOVO (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that those countries considering sanctions should think first of the damage they may incur if such measures were imposed.
"All threats against Russia are counterproductive and harmful," he told journalists, adding that Russia was ready to host the G8 but if western leaders did not want to come "they don't need to". -
Reuters columnist James Saft on Russia and the dead BRIC thesis
"Sometimes it takes a slap in the face to make you realize a long-cherished belief is long dead.
Russia's power move in Ukraine is the slap and the so-called BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) as an investment concept is the (now very much dead) belief."
Read his column here -
Ukraine ratifies 610 million euro EU loan agreed in 2013
KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's parliament ratified an agreement on Tuesday to accept a 610 million euro loan from the European Union, agreed in February 2013 but never ratified under deposed pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovich. -
Energy has become secondary to banking as source of Putin's influence in W Europe especially. London terrified of losing all that cash.
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) March 4, 2014 -
Mike Peacock, Reuters European Politics & Economics Editor, gives us his latest take on the situation in Ukraine (views expressed are his own):
"A reported 0300 GMT deadline, which Russian forces denied had been issued, for Ukraine’s forces to disarm in Crimea or face the consequences has passed without incident and in the last hour President Vladimir Putin has ordered troops that took part in military exercises in western Russia this week to return to base.
The West may have no military card to play – and its ability to impose meaningful sanctions is untested as yet – but the markets reminded Putin in no uncertain terms yesterday that there is a price to pay for war mongering. The rouble plunged, Russian stocks dropped 11 percent and the central bank raised interest rates by a full point and a half and then blew $12 billion of its reserves trying to prop up the currency, hardly an ideal policy response for an economy that is already struggling. If in the longer term foreign investment dries up things could get quite nasty.
NATO allies will today hold emergency talks on the crisis, for the second time in three days, following a request from Poland which has taken a more robust stance against Russia than some of its European peers. Kiev's U.N. ambassador, Yuriy Sergeyev, said Russia had deployed roughly 16,000 troops to Crimea since last week.
Washington is talking up sanctions from visa bans and asset freezes to trade isolation and has now suspended all military engagements with Russia. But the European Union, with its close energy and economic ties to Russia, is more reticent, none more so than Germany. EU foreign ministers held out the threat of sanctions on Monday but went no further than that. EU leaders will meet on Thursday to discuss next steps. The G7 members may boycott Russia’s G8 summit in Sochi in June.
Britain’s David Cameron and Barack Obama reiterated in a call that there would be “significant costs” for Moscow unless it changed course. But a UK official walking into Cameron’s office was snapped by photographers with a document. It showed the UK would not support trade sanctions for now, nor close London’s financial centre - the City - to rich Russians. Whether it was a discussion paper or a definitive outline of policy is not clear but either way it will hardly have Putin and his backers quaking in their boots. Cameron’s office was forced to deny it was putting the City’s interests before Ukraine’s plight.
The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE, said it was trying to convene an international contact group to help defuse the crisis after Germany said Chancellor Angela Merkel had persuaded Putin to accept such an initiative.
The new Ukrainian government may be completely outgunned by its neighbour but it also has some cards to play. An IMF mission arrives in Kiev today – the first step towards working out an aid programme – and Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk has spelled out budget spending cuts and pledged to deliver whatever reforms the Fund wants. Previous governments in Kiev baulked at an increase in gas prices for domestic consumers and a flexible exchange rate for the hryvnia currency. So it is possible that serious funds could soon be flowing into Ukraine." -
Russian stocks, ruble see cautious rebound after Ukraine panic
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian stock indexes rose on Tuesday morning, partially reversing double-digit losses on Monday when the market crashed over fears about the international crisis over Ukraine.
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U.S. lawmakers ready to act over Ukraine, but want Europe to step up
By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers expressed support on Monday for aid for Ukraine's new government, as well as sanctions to punish Russia for its military incursion into the neighboring country, but want European nations to step up their involvement in the crisis.
Senators are looking at options such as imposing sanctions on Russia's banks and freezing assets of Russian public institutions and private investors, Senator Chris Murphy, chairman of the Senate's Europe subcommittee, told Reuters.
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Russia's Putin orders troops in military exercise back to base
MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin has ordered troops that took part in military exercises in central and western Russia to return to base after completing their training, Russian news agencies quoted the Kremlin spokesman as saying on Tuesday.
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Military personnel, believed to be Russian servicemen, march outside the territory of a Ukrainian military unit in the village of Perevalnoye outside Simferopol, March 4, 2014. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili
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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) shakes hands with Palestinian lead negotiator Saeb Erekat (L) as he departs Joint Base Andrews in Washington enroute to Ukraine March 3, 2014. With them is State Department Mideast advisor Martin Indyk. In remarks today, U.S. President Barack Obama said Kerry will propose ways in which a negotiation between Russia and Ukraine could be overseen by a multilateral organization when he goes to Kiev on Tuesday. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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Military personnel, believed to be Russian servicemen, stand in front of the gates of a Ukrainian military unit as Ukrainian servicemen behind them look on in the village of Perevalnoye outside Simferopol, March 4, 2014. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili
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Russia's President Vladimir Putin (C), Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (L) and head of the Russian army's main department of combat preparation Ivan Buvaltsev watch military exercises at the Kirillovsky firing ground in the Leningrad region, March 3, 2014. Putin on Monday watched Russian tanks and armoured vehicles trundle across the training ground in the north-west of the country, as Moscow flexed its muscle in a geo-political face-off with the West over Ukraine. REUTERS/Mikhail Klimentyev/RIA Novosti/Kremlin
Putin says Russia will follow up fast after Ukraine call with Biden
MOSCOW Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia would send ideas to Washington within a week to follow up his talks with U.S. President Joe Biden on the Ukraine crisis.
