Portuguese Bonds Advance With Italy, Spain After Crimea’s Vote

By Lukanyo Mnyanda and Neal Armstrong  Mar 17, 2014 6:30 PM GMT+0200

Portugal’s government bonds rose as investors bet Crimea’s vote to leave Ukraine and join Russia won’t lead to serious conflict, boosting demand for the euro area’s higher-yielding assets.

Italian and Spanish securities also gained even as the U.S. and the European Union condemned the referendum and imposed sanctions on individuals in Russia. Greek bonds advanced as the nation was said to be approaching agreement with its creditors. German 10-year bunds, which rose last week by the most since September, declined. Portugal’s bonds have also been supported as the nation moves toward exiting a bailout program.

Crimea Votes to Secede From Ukraine as Russian Troops Keep Watch

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORNMARCH 16, 2014

The New York Times

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine — With thousands of heavily armed Russian troops occupying this perennially embattled peninsula, an overwhelming majority of Crimeans voted on Sunday to secede from Ukraine and join Russia, resolutely carrying out a public referendum that Western leaders had declared illegal and vowed to punish with economic sanctions.

With Takeover Of Natural Gas Station, Russia Ratchets Up Tension With Ukraine

Forbes

By Doug Schoen

Since the protests in Kiev turned bloody weeks ago, there has been one question on my mind: when will Russia invade Ukraine?

And now I have my answer: yesterday.

Putin Declares War

Will Obama and Europe let him get away with carving up Ukraine?

March 2, 2014 10:11 a.m. ET

The Wall Street Journal

Vladimir Putin's Russia seized Ukraine's Crimean peninsula by force on the weekend and now has his sights on the rest of his Slavic neighbor. The brazen aggression brings the threat of war to the heart of Europe for the first time since the end of the Cold War. The question now is what President Obama and free Europe are going to do about it.

Russia holds war games near Ukraine; Merkel warns of catastrophe

BY STEPHEN BROWN AND TIMOTHY HERITAGE

BERLIN/MOSCOW Fri Mar 14, 2014 2:53am EDT

(Reuters) - Russia launched new military exercises near its border with Ukraine on Thursday, showing no sign of backing down on plans to annex its neighbor's Crimea region despite a stronger than expected drive for sanctions from the EU and United States.

Challenges Ahead in Crimea

Brookings

By: Steven Pifer

Editor’s Note from Lawfare: The Russian military occupation of the Crimea and Russian president Vladimir Putin’s attempts to railroad a political settlement that would separate Crimea from the rest of Ukraine is the latest, and perhaps the most formidable, foreign policy test for the Obama administration. Events on the ground are fast-moving and defy easy categorization, further complicating policymaking. Steven Pifer, a senior fellow here at Brookings as well as the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine during several pivotal years in the Clinton administration, offers his perspective on the challenges ahead and the best approach for the United States and its allies.

Ukraine crisis: Russia preparing counter-offer to US demands

Kremlin says Washington’s stance on negotiations unacceptable because it accepts ouster of Yanukovych as fait accompli

Associated Press in Kiev

theguardian.com, Tuesday 11 March 2014 04.25 GMT

Russia has said it is drafting counterproposals to a US plan for a negotiated solution to the Ukraine crisis. The Kremlin denounced the new western-backed government as an unacceptable “fait accompli” and claimed Russian-leaning parts of the country had been plunged into lawlessness.

Russian Forces Gain in Ukraine as Separatist Vote Looms

By Kateryna Choursina, Volodymyr Verbyany and Stepan Kravchenko  Mar 10, 2014 9:58 AM GMT+0200

Bloomberg

Russian forces advanced in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, ignoring Western calls to halt a military takeover before the region’s separatist referendum.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said yesterday he’d travel to Washington this week as Russian President Vladimir Putin defended Crimea’s local government, which may use the March 16 vote to leave Ukraine and join the country’s Soviet-era master. Russian troops detained Ukrainian border guards at a base a day after gunmen fired warning shots at international observers and barred them from Crimea.

How the Ukraine crisis ends

By Henry A. Kissinger, Published: March 6

Henry A. Kissinger was secretary of state from 1973 to 1977.

Public discussion on Ukraine is all about confrontation. But do we know where we are going? In my life, I have seen four wars begun with great enthusiasm and public support, all of which we did not know how to end and from three of which we withdrew unilaterally. The test of policy is how it ends, not how it begins.

EU weighs Russia sanctions as Ukraine diplomacy falters

BY LUKE BAKER AND ELIZABETH PIPER

BRUSSELS/MOSCOW Thu Mar 6, 2014 3:41am EST

(Reuters) - European Union leaders were set to warn but not sanction Russia on Thursday over its military intervention in Ukraine after Moscow rebuffed Western diplomatic efforts to persuade it to pull forces in Crimea back to their bases.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov refused to meet his new Ukrainian counterpart or to launch a "contact group" to seek a solution to the crisis at talks in Paris on Wednesday despite intensive cajoling by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. The two men will meet again in Rome on Thursday.

U.S. Effort to Broker Russia-Ukraine Diplomacy Fails

By MICHAEL R. GORDON and STEVEN ERLANGERMARCH 5, 2014

The New York Times

PARIS — An effort by the United States to broker the first face-to-face diplomatic meeting between Russia and Ukraine over the Crimea crisis failed on Wednesday, but Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart announced more discussions in the days ahead.

Their remarks left open the possibility of progress toward a solution to de-escalate one of the most serious East-West confrontations since the Cold War.

Is Putin “in Another World?”

Marvin Kalb | March 4, 2014 12:30pm

Brookings

Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, rarely one to engage in flights of fancy, finished a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the crisis in Ukraine, and then, turning to several of her aides, she said that “she was not sure he was in touch with reality.” The Russian leader, she added, seemed to be “in another world.”

Putin’s error in Ukraine is the kind that leads to catastrophe

By David Ignatius, Published: March 3

The Washington Post

Napoleon is said to have cautioned during an 1805 battle: “When the enemy is making a false movement we must take good care not to interrupt him.” The citation is also sometimes rendered as “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” Whatever the precise wording, the admonition is a useful starting point for thinking about the Ukraine situation.

Ukraine's Perpetual East-West Balancing Act

Brookings

Striking the right balance between relations with the West and relations with Russia has always been Ukraine’s central foreign policy challenge. Ukraine’s leaders have sought to have it both ways: to grow relations with the United States, European Union and NATO while also trying to maintain a stable relationship with Russia.

Russian forces expand control of Crimea

By William Booth, Will Englund and Kathy Lally, Updated: Monday, March 3, 7:44 PM E-mail the writers

The Washington Post

SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine — Russian forces expanded their control of the Crimea region Monday and reportedly gave the Ukrainian military an ultimatum, as the Ukrainian prime minister called for Western political and economic support and the Russian and Ukrainian currencies fell in tandem.

Kremlin Clears Way for Force in Ukraine; Separatist Split Feared

By ALISON SMALE and DAVID M. HERSZENHORNMARCH 1, 2014

New York Times

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine — As Russian armed forces effectively seized control of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula on Saturday, the Russian Parliament granted President Vladimir V. Putin the authority he sought to use military force in response to the deepening instability in Ukraine.

The authorization cited a threat to the lives of Russian citizens and soldiers stationed in Crimea and other parts of Ukraine, and provided a blunt answer to President Obama, who on Friday pointedly warned Russia to respect Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty.

In Ukraine, Naming of Interim Government Gets Mixed Response

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORNFEB. 26, 2014

The New York Times

KIEV, Ukraine — Standing before a crowd of tens of thousands in Independence Square, the center of the three-month civic uprising that ousted President Viktor F. Yanukovych, the lawmakers temporarily controlling Ukraine announced an interim government on Wednesday night to be led by Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, a veteran public official.

Hagel Warns Russia Not to Intervene in Ukraine

By HELENE COOPERFEB. 27, 2014

The New York Times

BRUSSELS — Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel warned Russia on Thursday to stay out of the turmoil in Ukraine, while NATO defense ministers issued repeated statements meant to show support for the new leadership in Kiev.

“We expect other nations to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and avoid provocative action,” Mr. Hagel said after the ministers met at NATO headquarters here. “That’s why I’m closely watching Russia’s military exercises along the Ukrainian border, which they just announced yesterday.”

Gunmen’s seizure of parliament building stokes tensions in Ukraine’s Crimea

By William Booth and Will Englund, Published: February 26 | Updated: Thursday, February 27, 9:06

Washington Post

SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine — With unrest growing in the Crimea over Ukraine’s political transformation, a group of armed men seized the local parliament and the regional government headquarters in Simferopol early Thursday morning, barricaded themselves inside both buildings and raised Russian flags, news services reported.

They were reported to be wearing plain uniforms without designating marks. The Interfax news agency quoted a local authority as saying the men were from a Crimean self-defense group.

The takeover, in the regional capital of Simferopol, brings tensions in the Crimea to a new high, just hours after thousands of ethnic Russians there had protested against the new government in Kiev, while Crimean Tatars rallied in its support. It also came after Moscow ordered surprise military exercises in a district bordering Ukraine and put troops in the region on high alert.

Ukraine protests: Two people killed in Kiev clashes

22 January 2014 Last updated at 10:07 GMT

BBC

At least two people have died in clashes between police and protesters in the Ukrainian capital Kiev in a third night of violence.

The clashes began after police moved in to dismantle a protest camp.

Protesters threw firebombs and stones, while the police used tear gas and rubber bullets. At least one of the men who died had bullet wounds.