The events in Ukraine have been conditioned by a scenario realised by external forces, primarily by the United States, that should be played in the course of presidential elections in 2015, former chief of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Aleksander Yakimenko said.
DONETSK, Ukraine, Nov 09, 2014 (AFP) - Intense artillery fighting broke out early Sunday in the separatist bastion of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, according to AFP journalists in the area.
The United States on Wednesday warned Russia against any military intervention in Ukraine as it revealed it was drawing up an economic aid package including $1 billion in loan guarantees.
The United States offered Sunday to assist the Ukraine in rebuilding its battered economy following three months of devastating protests that have plunged the country into its worst crisis since independence.
Ukraine warned Sunday it was on the brink of disaster and called up all military reservists after Russia's threat to invade its neighbour drew sharp rebukes from the United States and its Western allies.
Russia has really helped Ukraine, in contrast to vain promises and insolent demands of the West, speaker of RF State Duma (lower house of parliament) Sergei Naryshkin said on Thursday, opening an 'Open Tribune' meeting.
Fifteen years have passed since the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland joined the NATO military alliance, a decision the ex-Soviet satellites now see as fortuitous given today's Ukraine standoff between Russia and the West.
US Secretary of State John Kerry warned Russia Saturday of "additional consequences" if it fails to pull its troops back from the Ukraine border, as Kiev accused Moscow of aggression in its restive east.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin warned that Ukraine is on the verge of civil war, the Kremlin said Wednesday, after the Kiev government sent in troops against pro-Moscow separatists in the east of the country.
Ex-Soviet countries fearing spillover from the Ukraine crisis have asked NATO for land forces and other backup, potentially moving the region one step closer to a new Cold War.
Group of 20 finance chiefs are expected to discuss financial aid to Ukraine at their meeting later this week, as the country is believed to be teetering on the brink of fiscal collapse, Japan's Finance Minister Taro Aso said Tuesday.
Russia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov is heading for Geneva to take part in a quadripartite meeting on Ukraine, a delegation source told Itar-Tass on Thursday.
The United States and the European Union were Monday readying fresh sanctions against Russia amid rising tensions over the kidnapping of international observers by pro-Russian militants in Ukraine.
The US and Europe are set to slap new sanctions on Russia as early as Monday over the crisis in Ukraine where tensions spiked over the kidnapping of a team of international observers.
Heavily armed pro-Russian gunmen on Monday seized another town in east Ukraine, storming the town hall in Kostyantynivka and setting up barricades, an AFP journalist saw.
The United States confirmed on Friday reports that a convoy of armoured vehicles including three T-64 Russian tanks moved into Ukraine from Russia and are now in the hands of the rebels.