The Ukrainian situation can stabilize only if Russia and the European Union cooperate closely, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said, the Voice of Russia correspondent reports.  
Asselborn told a press conference after negotiating with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov that he personally and the European Union as a whole were confident that close cooperation between the EU and Russia was the only way to achieve normalization and stability in Ukraine.

RT also said that Luxemburg is calling for Ukrainians to curb violence...
Well it seems they are now pushing Luxemburg to ask Russians for help ...someone will have to as things are only going to escalate soon...

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind...Albert Einstein

Summary

* The Russian prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, has criticised western countries' recognition of the legitimacy of Ukraine's transitional government as an "aberration", describing the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych as a "mutiny". The former president also said that it would be difficult to Russia to work with people with "black masks and Kalashnikov rifles". The Russian foreign ministry later echoed his comments and accused the west of encouraging neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic extremists.

The Russian prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, is also quoted as saying:

We do not understand what is going on there. There is a real threat to our interests and to the lives of our citizens. There are big doubts about the legitimacy of a whole series of organs of power that are now functioning there.

Before he was ousted as Ukraine's president, Viktor Yanukovych drew up plans to use thousands of troops to crush the protests that eventually toppled him, according to a leaked document published online.

Ukrainian journalists are going through thousands of papers they say were found near Yanukovych's opulent residence near Kiev after he fled the capital, and some documents have already started to surface in the internet.

Although its authenticity could not be confirmed, parliamentary deputy Hennadi Moskal, a former deputy interior minister, published a document online detailing a plan to surround Independence Square - the cradle of the uprising - with snipers and open fire on the protesters below.

11:51 GMT:

The Ukrainian parliament Verkhovna Rada has voted in favor of President Yanukovich being tried in the International Criminal Court (ICC) located in The Hague for alleged serious crimes.

Ex-Interior Minister Vitaly Zakharchenko and former Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka are among those whom the Rada wants to be tried in the ICC.

All are accused of "crimes against humanity during the peaceful protests in the period of November 30, 2013, and February 22, 2014."

Three hundred and twenty-four MPs voted in favor of the resolution.

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind...Albert Einstein

In Ukraine turbulence, a lad from Lviv becomes the toast of Kiev | Reuters

(Reuters) - When the history of the bloody turbulence in Ukraine is written, a 26-year-old who learned combat skills in the army cadets may be recorded as the man who made up Viktor Yanukovich's mind to cut and run.

Cars toot a welcome and passers-by press the hand of Volodymyr Parasiuk, a boyish-looking individual who finds it embarrassing to be called a hero.

He reserves that title for his comrades and other protesters among the 80 or so people killed on the capital's streets last week in three days of fighting against Yanukovich's police.

But after opposition leaders had signed an EU-brokered deal with President Yanukovich to end the conflict, it was Parasiuk who commandeered the microphone on Friday night to turn the crowd against it.

With former boxing champion and opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko looking on stony-faced, Parasiuk, from the western city of Lviv, made an electrifying impromptu speech denouncing the opposition for "shaking hands with this killer".

No-one was going to wait for an election later in the year, he said. Yanukovich had to get out of town by the following morning or face the consequences.

To the dismay of opposition leaders, Parasiuk's emotional address - he broke down on several occasions as he remembered dead comrades - touched a chord deep within the thousands on Independence Square who roared their approval.

Has the West Already Lost Ukraine? - NYTimes.com

When, on Saturday, Ukraine's new leaders thanked all of those who had contributed to the overthrow of President Viktor F. Yanukovych, the European Union was one of the last to be cited. And deservedly so: At the height of the crisis, the most the union was ready to do was announce sanctions against individual members of Mr. Yanukovych's regime.

It is true that the foreign ministers of Germany and Poland worked hard to negotiate a truce between the opposition and Mr. Yanukovych. But their determination came not from the belief that a strong Europe stood behind them, but rather from the awareness that the West would not defend the opposition if it came under attack by Mr. Yanukovych's armed forces or those of President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

The events of the last week have made it clear that the European Union is an attractive economic arrangement -- but one that is devoid of opportunities for pursuing serious foreign or defense policies.

The Eastern Partnership is definitely off our reservation, but nevertheless we feel there is an overlooked aspect in Ukraine's suspension of the talks with a more direct relevance to our debate. We would like to draw attention to a little-reported speech delivered on last Monday the 18th by Angela Merkel to the Bundestag (video) in which she demanded that Ukraine engage in fiscal consolidation as part of the agreement. We have found this speech reported in English only in the Russian site Vestnik Kavkaza.

...An additional serious problem for Ukraine is fiscal consolidation. Without serious finances, there will be no agreement on economic support from the IMF. We believe that such an agreement with Ukraine is necessary. Bilateral credits of the EU for macrofinancal support of Ukraine depend on this.

We constantly recommend Ukraine to conduct reforms. We cannot do this for the Ukrainian government. The reforms should be provided, notwithstanding, the association agreement will be signed or not. We understand that they cannot be provided in a single day.

We also would like to support Ukraine in its reforms by our cooperation and financial aid for the European neighboring policy, but Ukraine has to provide necessary conditions for this. And it has to do it right now.

Seeing how well German-inspired macroeconomic management of the eurozone is turning out, we cannot fault the Ukrainian government for not wanting to unduly restrict its macroeconomic policy space in exchange for a status which does not even amount to that of Turkey. As with Syria and Iran, the EU has delivered an easy political victory to Putin by overplaying its hand. We noted a comment in Berliner Zeitung that "the advantages of the association agreement are abstract" while "Moscow's threats and promises have been wonderfully concrete".

Putin could move against Crimea

Wach this interview...

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind...Albert Einstein

Also important to recall that the 8th-century Slavic monarchy of Kievan Rus laid the foundation for both the Russian and Ukrainian states.

— Edward Leigh MP (@EdwardLeighMP) febrero 24, 2014

Ukraine's disgraced president, Viktor Yanukovych, used to boast to other heads of state about how corrupt he was, according to Georgia's former president Mikheil Saakashvili.

Yanukovych, who fled Kiev at the weekend and is believed now to be hiding in Crimea, was known for his thuggish behaviour and obsession with money. The extent of his interest in the latter was revealed over the weekend when his lavish presidential compound outside Kiev was opened to the public.

Saakashvili's comments suggest the Ukrainian leader was brazen in his abuse of office. Saakashvili was president of Georgia from 2004 until November, and met Yanukovych on numerous occasions.

He recalled one incident in particular, at the 2011 UN general assembly in New York, when he said Yanukovych bragged at length about how his corrupt government worked, in front of Saakashvili and a group of leaders from post-Soviet countries.

"He would talk very loudly about how he had corrupted senior officials, in the supreme court and the constitutional court," Saakashvili said during an interview in the Ukrainian capital, where he is meeting with opposition leaders after Yanukovych's downfall. "He didn't care who he was talking to; the guy did not have any idea about morality."

Saakashvili said Yanukovych was unique among post-Soviet leaders, even the notoriously ruthless and corrupt central Asian dictators.

So, by a less-than-generous view, it might be suspected that the United States encouraged demonstrators to break the truce, with the expectation that violence would occur and Yanukovich's equivocal fat cat backers, such as Akhmetov, would jump ship because the US had already informed them that their assets in the West would be at risk under US and EU sanctions.
If this is the case, the EU perhaps has additional reason to feel sore and resentful at the US.  By blowing up the truce and the transition deal, Nuland got Yanukovich out and "Yats"--the preferred US proxy, Arseniy Yatsenyuk--in, but at the cost of terminally alienating the Ukraine's pro-Russian segment--a segment, it might be pointed out, was actually able to elect Yanukovich in a free and fair election a while back.

Interesting links to US threats against Ukrainian oligarchs in Yahoo! Sports of all places.

China Matters: Looks Like US Played Hardball in the Ukraine...and Against the EU

So, by a less-than-generous view, it might be suspected that the United States encouraged demonstrators to break the truce, with the expectation that violence would occur and Yanukovich's equivocal fat cat backers, such as Akhmetov, would jump ship because the US had already informed them that their assets in the West would be at risk under US and EU sanctions.
If this is the case, the EU perhaps has additional reason to feel sore and resentful at the US.  By blowing up the truce and the transition deal, Nuland got Yanukovich out and "Yats"--the preferred US proxy, Arseniy Yatsenyuk--in, but at the cost of terminally alienating the Ukraine's pro-Russian segment--a segment, it might be pointed out, was actually able to elect Yanukovich in a free and fair election a while back.

00:13 GMT:

The Russian flag has been taken down in the Crimean city of Simferopol after being briefly erected by the protesters over the city's administration building, UNN reports. Yet protesters continue to call for a referendum on the status of Crimea and say the seizure of power in Kiev was illegal.

Protesters are demanding the restoration of the constitution of Crimea of 1992, according to which the region would have its own president and foreign policy. An extraordinary session of the Crimean parliament is scheduled for Wednesday.

...23:35 GMT:

Ukraine's Berkut riot police force has been disbanded, acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov announced on his Facebook page. The details of the newly signed order will be announced on Wednesday.
(vbo:they do not expect any more riots I assume...well...at least not in a part of Ukraine where they can step)
...22:47 GMT:

A technical support group from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) might soon head to Ukraine, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said on Tuesday.

"We will probably shortly send some technical assistance support to the country," Lagarde said at Stanford University in California. "Because this is our duty to a member if that member asks for that. That is clearly what is likely to happen."
(vbo:yeah someone has to write down "economic reforms" for them , and fast...)
...21:02 GMT:

Additional members of the Marine Corps' new Security Augmentation Unit have been deployed for extra security measures at the US Embassy in Ukraine

"We have slightly augmented our existing Marine Security Guard force at the Embassy in Kyiv," Jen Psaki, State Department spokeswoman said Tuesday.

An official with the department told NBC news that nine Marines have been deployed to Kiev.
(vbo:why? Kiev is a friendly territory...it's not Crim...)
...19:51 GMT:

Protesters have raised a Russian flag on the Supreme Council building in the Ukrainian city of Simferopol. They have blocked the entrance to the Crimean parliament building.
...15:37 GMT:

Russia's Foreign Ministry says it will provide the EU and OSCE with video proof that extremists caused chaos and devastation in Kiev.

"We are deeply concerned by what is going on in Ukraine and, particularly, by how the West comments on the situation and tries to influence on it," the Ministry said in a statement in English on its Facebook page. "Western media prefers not to talk about the fact that the riots were organized by extremists. Perhaps the management of the European structures does not know how extremists, posing themselves as "civilians" acted." (vbo:they don't need to...everything is well documented on Youtube for those who want to see)

A visiting Russian parliamentarian said earlier on Tuesday that Moscow would act in the event of heightened tension over the Crimean peninsula.

"If the life and health of our compatriots is under threat, we will not stand to one side," the parliamentarian, Leonid Slutsky, said after arriving in the regional capital of Simferopol for a one-day visit.

Slutsky, who leads the Russian Duma's committee for relations with former Soviet states, declined to say what sort of action Russia might take.

AFP reported that two armoured personnel carriers were deployed near Russian military installations in Ukraine's second port of Sevastopol on Tuesday. One of the vehicles was on a base belonging to Russia's Black Sea fleet while another was parked in the courtyard of a navy building in the city centre. A spokesman for the fleet in Sevastopol refused to comment on the deployment of the vehicles but local media reported that they had been sent out in case of "terrorist attacks".

08:40 GMT:

The special riot police force known as `Berkut' has been invited to join the ranks of the law enforcement officials in the city of Sevastopol, located on the Crimean Peninsula. It comes shortly after the force was disbanded by the interim government of Kiev, following the bloody clashes in the capital.

"These people have done their duty with dignity, have shown to be true men, and now are being thrown to the gang of nationalists by their own ex-bosses," the head of Sevastopol City administration Aleksey Chaly said, as quoted by the local ForPost media outlet.  

Ukraine may well be the geopolitical prize nobody can afford to win.
"The real question now is how much of the burden of dealing with Ukraine is going to be European and how much the Europeans are going to be able to slough off onto the American taxpayer," said Wayne Merry, a scholar at the American Foreign Policy Council. Right now, he said, Ukraine is fairly low on Washington's list of priorities amid bigger problems in Syria, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and nuclear negotiations with Iran.

Ukraine's acting finance minister, Yuri Kobolov, says the country needs $35 billion to cover this year and next. He is looking to Europe or the United States for help, hopefully within the next two weeks.
(vbo: two weeks, hahahaha, what an optimist) ...Jonathan Adelman, professor of international relations at the University of Denver, said he sees little chance of the Washington coming through at a time of budgetary difficulties, highlighted this week when Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel proposed to shrink the U.S. Army to its smallest size since the 1940s.

"There's going to be no enthusiasm here for the tens of billions of dollars it would take to bail Ukraine out," Adelman said.
...EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Tuesday that the EU and its member nations are ready to help bridge Ukraine's short-term financing needs until a new government can negotiate a full-fledged assistance package with the International Monetary Fund. She said it was important that Russia also help out.
(vbo: as I said Ashton is my girl ...I can't decide if she is stupid or just and ugly arrogant bitch...Russians to help? Helloouu...or they simply think that Russians are stupid...?)
... "An approach providing Ukraine with breathing room and time is more likely to create a favorable environment for a positive outcome from Ukraine's next stage. Such a policy would serve the interests of Russia, the EU and the United States."
(vbo: if it is not too late already it soon will be too late for positive outcome...at least for Ukrainians)

Merry said the Europeans may not have understood what they had unleashed by courting Ukraine.

"A lot of people in a lot of those capitals really --Berlin and Paris to name two -- think that the European Union got too far out in front of itself, didn't think through what it was doing, got involved in what was a zero-sum position with Russia," Merry said.

10:47 GMT:

Crimean Tatars and supporters of pro-Russian organizations are trying to approach the building of the peninsula's parliament. All in all, there are up to 5,000 Tatars and 700 pro-Russian demonstrators gathered at the scene.

I think that the current situation is such that everyone is in terrible shock over what's happening.

The EU representatives are shocked most of all. They were playing at being skillful diplomats, who stooped to work with the barbarous dictator of a third-world country. He was supposed to quiver with anticipation over his handout, in the form of an EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which would have allowed him to don the mantle of the great Euro-integrator and win the 2015 elections.

..

The Kremlin is in a bit of shock as well. They were carefully masterminding the situation, supporting the Donbass thugs, gradually ramping up their influence in Ukraine and buying up key stocks. They were methodically planning to annex half of Ukraine as a "voluntary incorporation." But then this idiot Yanukovych started giving them a hard time trying to extort money in return for joining the Customs Union, and then he made a series of mistakes leading to the current disaster--in the middle of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, no less!

Worth a read in full.

http://img.rt.com/files/news/22/df/80/00/ukraine_480p.mp4?event=download

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind...Albert Einstein

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtsMCDOqDhw&feature=player_embedded

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind...Albert Einstein

Interesting video...

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind...Albert Einstein

A group of US financial experts have arrived in Kiev to consult the new government on "immediate economic reforms," Interfax-Ukraine reports, citing US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns.  

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10662187/Ukraine-revolution-Protesters-in-s tand-off-in-pro-Russian-Crimea.html

Ukraine revolution: Putin puts troops on alert in western Russia
Moscow flexes military muscle with urgent drills amid confrontation between pro and anti-Russian protesters in Crimean capital

President Vladimir Putin has put armed forces in western Russia 'on alert', amid rising tensions in the pro-Russian Crimea over the overthrow of Viktor Yanukovich by pro-European protesters.

In a sign of Moscow's displeasure at the revolution in Kiev, Mr Putin ordered an urgent drill to test troops' combat readiness.

"In accordance with an order from the president of the Russian Federation, forces of the Western Military District were put on alert at 1400 (1000 GMT) today," Interfax quoted Sergei Shoigu, the Russian Defence Minister, as saying.  

13:39 GMT:

The UK is "taking note" of the activities of the Russian Armed Forces and opposes "external interference in Ukraine," Defense Secretary Philip Hammond was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Hammond's comments come as Russia is staging a surprise military drill.  

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10661619/The-potential-candidates-competing -for-Ukraines-presidency.html

What do you think?

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind...Albert Einstein

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XtxbGjkpkF8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3uB0PnCM8k&feature=player_embedded

PLUS

Turkey is ready to put a claim for the Crimea in case of division of Ukraine

http://nahnews.com.ua/turkey-is-ready-to-put-a-claim-for-the-crimea-in-case-of-division-of-ukraine/

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind...Albert Einstein

14:21 GMT:

Moscow is urging Kiev to prevent further aggravation of the situation and to stop the country from descending into inter-religious confrontation.

"Russia is worried about non-stop excesses by radicals in Ukraine," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a comment posted on its website. The radicals, who are confident in their "permissiveness and impunity," are continuing to impose their will and rules, the ministry said.

Following political destabilization, the "fragile peace" between religious confessions is now also under fire, Moscow said, adding that there has been an increasing number of threats against Ukrainian Orthodox Church clerics as well as attempts to seize Orthodox sacred places.

Such tendencies are "extremely dangerous" and may lead to "new upheavals and provoke an even deeper split of Ukrainian society," the Foreign Ministry said.  

Yanukovych car park: one car smashed, another car is missing (video)
25.02.2014 11:15   HIT, In Ukraine, incidents, Kiev, Politic, regions, Top news   No comments
AUDI_Museum_16

All collector cars in Yanukovych car park were signed - now, there is only a plate on the location of one of them. There are only three such cars in the world.

The most expensive $2,000,000 car disappears from Yanukovych car park.

Brzeziński: Ukrainian tycoons have to chip in a billion each to restore Ukraine
25.02.2014 10:17   Economics, HIT, In Ukraine, interview, Politic, Reform, Social policy, Top news, Ukraine, World   No comments
бжезинский

Civil War in Ukraine remains a possibility because of the position taken by the Crimea and eastern regions on Kiev events, writes Zbignev Brzeziński in The Financial Times. Brzezinski advises the West to prevent an "explosion of regional violence in Ukraine".
 

Is a guarantee that there is no conspiracy against Ukraine between Germany, Poland and Russia? As a result of certain events going on in the country, the Crimean Peninsula would be handed over to the Russian Federation, the land that belonged to Poland before 1939 would be handed over to Warsaw, while Germany would take control of the west of Ukraine. These were the ideas expressed by retired colonel Alexander Musienko.

Alexander Musienko took part in combat actions in Afghanistan and Chechnya, events in Baku in 1990 and the civil war in Tajikistan in 1992-1993. He told Pravda.Ru that one could have avoided the civil war in Ukraine if the authorities had declared the state of emergency on time. "There would have been victims, 500, 1000, maybe even five thousand casualties. This would have been a terrible tragedy, but it would have prevented much greater sacrifices - dozens, maybe hundreds of thousands of people and the collapse of the state," said Musienko. According to him, the events in Kiev show that Ukraine has not been able to build a state machine in its new history, nor could it do that before, during the times of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, who had to seek assistance from the Russian tsar.

The spineless Ukrainian authorities had the spineless military, the expert said. They formed a generation of military leaders of low and medium level, who could not take responsibility for their actions. They can be prosecuted for executing orders, although it is the officials, who give orders that should be prosecuted.

14:37 GMT:

Russia is taking steps to provide security for the Black Sea Fleet's facilities and arsenals, says Sergey Shoigu, Russia's Defense Minister.

A sovereign, independent and stable Ukraine, firmly committed to democracy and the rule of law, is key to Euro-Atlantic security. Consistent with the Charter on a Distinctive Partnership between NATO and Ukraine, NATO Allies will continue to support Ukrainian sovereignty and independence, territorial integrity, democratic development, and the principle of inviolability of frontiers, as key factors of stability and security in Central and Eastern Europe and on the continent as a whole.

06:08 GMT:

The buildings of the Crimean parliament and administration have been seized by an unknown armed group.

Law enforcement authorities are stationed next to the Council of Ministers, with officers banning people from approaching the building, Interfax-Ukraine reported, citing the press service of the Crimean parliament.  

A local leader of the Tatar community in Ukraine's Crimea region says armed men have seized two government buildings in the regional capital, Simferopol.

Refat Chubarov wrote on his Facebook page early Thursday that the buildings of the local government and legislature were seized overnight by uniformed men.

Phone calls to the Crimean legislature are ringing unanswered, and its website is down. But the Interfax news agency reports that the legislature's press office has confirmed the building has been seized.

Fistfights broke out Wednesday outside the legislature's building in Simferopol between pro- and anti-Russian demonstrators.

In Kiev, opposition leaders who took charge after pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych fled were working on forming a new government to chart a path forward for the country and its ailing economy.

08:35 GMT:

The Crimean parliament building has been seized by an armed group calling itself "Self-defense of the Russian-speaking population of Crimea." The group has said it will only allow legitimate MPs and the speaker of the parliament into the building, Russia-24 TV reports.
...08:37 GMT:

Crimean Premier Anatoly Mogilev has given his contact number to the unknown armed group which seized the parliament's building.
...08:38 GMT:

Ukraine's acting President Aleksandr Turchinov has warned Russia against "military aggression" in Crimea. He stressed that Russian troop movements around the Black Sea Fleet's base in Sevastopol, Crimea, would be seen by Ukraine as act of aggression.
...08:41 GMT:

Russia's Foreign Ministry has said that "large-scale human rights violations," as well as attacks and vandalism are major causes for concern.
...08:41 GMT:

The representatives of the unknown armed group that seized the Crimean administration buildings have informed the region's PM Anatoly Mogilev that they are not authorized to conduct negotiations.
...08:41 GMT:

The center of the city of Simferopol has been closed to traffic, as police widened the security perimeter around the administration buildings.

Having rapidly looked at the locals, let us now turn to the folks that do matter:

The Ukrainian oligarchs:

Most of them believe that as long as the Ukraine maintains an anti-Russian stance the EU will let them do whatever the hell they want inside the Ukraine.  They are correct.  For them, signing an otherwise meaningless agreement with the EU is basically accepting the following deal: they become the faithful servants of their EU overlords in exchange for what the EU overlords will let them continue to pillage the Ukraine in pretty much any way they want.

There is a smaller group of oligarchs who still stands to lose more than win if the Russian-Ukrainian relations sour and if Russia introduces barriers to trade with the Ukraine (which Russia would have to do if the Ukraine signs an free trade agreement with the EU).  These oligarchs believe that more money can be made from Russia than form the EU and they are the folks who convinced Yanukovich to make his infamous "zag" from the EU towards Russia.  Thus, there is a split inside the Ukrainian oligarchy whose representatives can be found on both sides of the current struggle.

The EU:

The EU is in a deep, systemic, economic, social and political crisis and it is absolutely desperate for new opportunities to rescue itself from its slow-motion collapse.  For the EU, the Ukraine is first and foremost a market to sells is goods and services.  The Ukraine is also a way to make the EU look bigger, more powerful, more relevant.  Some believe that the Ukraine can also provide cheap labor for the EU, but I don't believe that this is a major consideration for the following reasons: the EU already has way too many immigrants, and the there has already been a steady stream of Ukrainians (and Balts) leaving their country for a better life in the West.  Thus, what the EU really wants is a way to benefit from the Ukraine but without suffering too many negative consequences from any agreement.  Hence the 1500 pages of the proposed agreement with the EU.

The USA:

The goals of the USA in the Ukraine are completely different from the goals of the EU, hence the very real tensions between their diplomats so well expressed by the "fuck the EU!" of Madam Nuland.  Furthermore, and unlike the bankrupt EU, the US has spent over 5'000'000'000 dollars to achieve its goals in the Ukraine.  But so what are these goals really?

This is were it gets really interesting.

First, we have to go back to the crucial statement made by Hillary Clinton in early December of 2012:

"There is a move to re-Sovietise the region," (...) "It's not going to be called that. It's going to be called a customs union, it will be called Eurasian Union and all of that,"   (...) "But let's make no mistake about it. We know what the goal is and we are trying to figure out effective ways to slow down or prevent it."

Now, it is absolutely irrelevant to argue about whether Hillary was right or wrong in her interpretation of what the Eurasian Union is supposed to become, what matters is that she, and her political masters, believe, and they really believe is that Putin wants to re-create the Soviet Union.  No matter how stupid this notion is, we have to always keep in mind that this is what the likes of Hillary sincerely believe.

09:02 GMT:

The Ukrainian parliament has begun a session which is set to see the coalition government confirmed. Acting President Aleksandr Turchinov is leading the session.

09:53 GMT:

Entertainment facilities and restaurants are shutting down in Simferopol, various managers informed on social networks, according to the Crimean news agency. Schools are closing in the city as well.  

Vitali Klitschko, the former heavyweight boxing world champion who has announced that he will stand for the Ukrainian presidency, tells the people of Crimea...bla bla bla.

    10.43am GMT

Viktor Yanukovych is quoted by Russian media as saying:

    I, Viktor Fedorovich Yanukovych appeal to the people of Ukraine. As before I still consider myself to be the lawful head of the Ukrainian state, chosen freely by the will of the Ukrainian people.

    Now it is becoming clear that the people in south-eastern Ukraine and in Crimea do not accept the power vacuum and complete lawlessness in the country, when the heads of ministries are appointed by the mob.

    On the streets of many cities of our country there is an orgy of extremism ...I have to ask the Russian authorities to provide me with personal safety from the actions of extremists.

10.41am GMT

Ousted president Viktor Yanukovych has also asked Russia to protect him from "extremists" in his statement. His whereabouts at present are unclear. At least one Russian news organisation has reported that he is in Moscow.
 

10.57am GMT

A Russian official has been quoted as saying that Moscow has accepted the plea of the fugitive ousted Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovych, who had asked for protection, AP reports.

Three Russia news agencies quoted an unnamed official saying that Yanukovych's request for protection "was satisfied on the territory of Russia".

It has been reported that he is in Moscow.

http://korrespondent.net/ukraine/1049820    

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind...Albert Einstein

11:30 GMT:

The European Parliament has called on Ukrainian's interim government to protect the country's Russian-speaking minority's right to use the language.

"All Ukrainian and international, political forces must work together to ensure a united Ukraine, taking into account linguistic, cultural and historical factors," said the parliamentary statement.