Russia pinned the blame on the pro-Western interim government in Kiev, which took power in February, as Britain, France and the United States pointed the finger at the Kremlin.
The emergency session was the 10th round of UN Security Council talks on the crisis and came after Kiev launched a military operation Sunday and gave pro-Russian forces a deadline of 0600 GMT Monday to give up their weapons to escape prosecution.
Russia, which called the meeting, said it was "the West who will determine the opportunity to stop the civil war in Ukraine" and alleged that Kiev was poised to unleash military action.
Ukraine sent special security forces into the city of Slavyansk on Sunday to regain control of a police station that had been seized by about 20 militants, resulting in dead and wounded on both sides, according to Ukraine's interior minister.
Ukrainian ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev accused Russia of sponsoring terrorism, posing a serious threat to the security of Ukrainians and to international peace and stability.
Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin hit back that military operations in southeastern Ukraine would undermine talks between the European Union, Russia, Ukraine and the United States in Geneva this week.
Ukraine's acting president Oleksandr Turchynov declared the launch of a "full-scale anti-terrorist operation" a day after masked gunmen stormed police and security service buildings.
The attacks have been unsettling for both Kiev and Western leaders because of their similarity to events leading up to Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.
Kiev's "provocation" would have "extremely significant consequences" for the people of Ukraine, Churkin warned.
- The US ambassador said it was "hard to reconcile" the 40,000 Russian forces massed on the Ukrainian border and "subversive activities" inside Ukraine with Moscow's appeal for diplomacy.
"It will require the Russian Federation to pull back its forces which are ominously stationed and massed," she added.
Power accused Russia of waging propaganda and bombarding Ukraine with incitement and violence.
"This is the saddest kind of instability -- it is completely man-made. This 'instability' was written and choreographed in and by Russia," she said.
British ambassador Mark Lyall Grant described the last 48 hours in eastern Ukraine as a "dangerous escalation of an already dangerous situation."
"Russia is seeking to impose its will on the people of Ukraine using misinformation, intimidation and aggression -- tactics drawn from the darkest days of the last century. This is completely unacceptable."
UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco said at least one Ukrainian officer had been killed in a gun battle and numerous other people had been reported injured during skirmishes in eastern Ukraine.
During the last 24 hours, he said, at least five new cities in the region had been targeted by uprisings and seizures of government buildings.
"The situation is therefore now more combustible than ever," Fernandez-Taranco said, warning against a spillover of "potentially severe consequences."
- AFP/ac - channelnewsasia.com
14/4/14
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Russian Fiction the Sequel: 10 More False Claims About Ukraine. -Office of the Spokesperson....
ReplyDelete“No amount of propaganda can make right something that the world knows is wrong.”
– President Obama, March 26
Russia continues to spin a false and dangerous narrative to justify its illegal actions in Ukraine. The Russian propaganda machine continues to promote hate speech and incite violence by creating a false threat in Ukraine that does not exist. We would not be seeing the violence and sad events that we've witnessed this weekend without this relentless stream of disinformation and Russian provocateurs fostering unrest in eastern Ukraine. Here are 10 more false claims Russia is using to justify intervention in Ukraine, with the facts that these assertions ignore or distort.
1. Russia Claims: Russian agents are not active in Ukraine.
Fact: The Ukrainian Government has arrested more than a dozen suspected Russian intelligence agents in recent weeks, many of whom were armed at the time of arrest. In the first week of April 2014, the Government of Ukraine had information that Russian GRU officers were providing individuals in Kharkiv and Donetsk with advice and instructions on conducting protests, capturing and holding government buildings, seizing weapons from the government buildings’ armories, and redeploying for other violent actions. On April 12, armed pro-Russian militants seized government buildings in a coordinated and professional operation conducted in six cities in eastern Ukraine. Many were outfitted in bullet-proof vests, camouflage uniforms with insignia removed, and carrying Russian-designed weapons like AK-74s and Dragunovs. These armed units, some wearing black and orange St. George’s ribbons associated with Russian Victory Day celebrations, raised Russian and separatist flags over seized buildings and have called for referendums on secession and union with Russia. These operations are strikingly similar to those used against Ukrainian facilities during Russia’s illegal military intervention in Crimea in late February and its subsequent occupation.
2. Russia Claims: Pro-Russia demonstrations are comprised exclusively of Ukrainian citizens acting of their own volition, like the Maidan movement in Kyiv.
Fact: This is not the grassroots Ukrainian civic activism of the EuroMaidan movement, which grew from a handful of student protestors to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians from all parts of the country and all walks of life. Russian internet sites openly are recruiting volunteers to travel from Russia to Ukraine and incite violence. There is evidence that many of these so-called “protesters” are paid for their participation in the violence and unrest. It is clear that these incidents are not spontaneous events, but rather part of a well-orchestrated Russian campaign of incitement, separatism, and sabotage of the Ukrainian state. Ukrainian authorities continue to arrest highly trained and well-equipped Russian provocateurs operating across the region.
3. Russia Claims: Separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine enjoy broad popular support..........http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2014/04/224759.htm
13/4/14
Obama à Poutine: les forces irrégulières en Ukraine doivent déposer les armes...
ReplyDeleteLe président des Etats-Unis Barack Obama a dit à son homologue russe Vladimir Poutine être "très inquiet" des actions de Moscou en Ukraine et a appelé les forces irrégulières à déposer les armes, lors d'un entretien téléphonique lundi.
"Le président a exprimé sa profonde inquiétude concernant le soutien du gouvernement russe aux actions de séparatistes armés, pro-russes qui menacent d'ébranler et de déstabiliser le gouvernement en Ukraine", a indiqué la Maison Blanche dans un communiqué. M. Obama a également "souligné la nécessité que toutes les forces irrégulières dans le pays déposent les armes, et pressé le président Poutine d'user de son influence avec ces groupes armés, pro-russes pour les convaincre de déposer les armes", ajoute le texte. Lors de cet entretien qui a eu lieu sur demande de Moscou, le président américain a par ailleurs rappelé "l'importance que la Russie retire ses troupes de la frontière avec l'Ukraine afin de faire retomber les tensions", et noté que malgré "la rhétorique" des autorités russes "le gouvernement d'Ukraine a fait preuve d'une retenue remarquable". M. Obama a enfin estimé que "l'isolement grandissant de la Russie sur le plan politique et économique était le résultat de ses actions en Ukraine et souligné que les coûts que la Russie subissait déjà augmenteront certainement si elle poursuit" dans cette voie. Le Kremlin a de son côté déclaré plus tôt dans un communiqué qu'en "réponse aux préoccupations exprimées par le président américain concernant une prétendue ingérence russe dans le sud-est de l'Ukraine, le président russe a observé que de telles spéculations étaient basées sur des informations infondées". Une réunion quadripartite entre la Russie, les Etats-Unis, l'Union européenne et l'Ukraine doit se tenir jeudi à Genève. Des attaques visiblement concertées ont été lancées pendant le week-end contre des bâtiments publics de l'est russophone de l'Ukraine, notamment autour de Donetsk. Des hommes en uniforme armés visiblement entraînés, rappelant selon de nombreux experts les forces qui ont pris le contrôle de la Crimée avant son rattachement à la Russie, ont été vus sur place, et les Occidentaux ont affirmé qu'il s'agissait d'une opération dirigée par Moscou. (Belga)
http://www.rtl.be/info/monde/europe/1083980/obama-a-poutine-les-forces-irregulieres-en-ukraine-doivent-deposer-les-armes
15/4/14