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RUSSIA WILL COME under heightened diplomatic pressure today as the UN Security Council and European leaders hold emergency talks on Ukraine, after the seizure of Crimea created the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War.
The EU summit in Brussels starts at 1030am, when leaders will meet with Ukraine’s prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk who took over after the ousting of president Viktor Yanukovych last month following three months of deadly protests.
Ahead of the summit the EU froze assets held by 18 Ukrainians accused of embezzlement, including ousted Moscow-backed Yanukovych and his son Oleksandr.
As the EU confers on the crisis, 40 unarmed military personnel are expected in Crimea in a mission by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe to try to defuse tensions in the flashpoint region.
Later the 15-member UN Security Council will hold closed-door talks from 1930 GMT in New York, the body’s fourth consultations on the subject since Friday.
During an acrimonious round of emergency talks Monday, Russia told other council members that Yanukovych had asked Moscow to dispatch troops to re-establish law and order in his country.
As a permanent member of the council, Russia holds veto power and can block the body’s draft resolutions.
Highlighting the strains on the ground, UN special envoy to Crimea Robert Serry was forced to cut short a visit when he was confronted by unidentified gunmen yesterday, but is expected to return to Kiev soon.
Serry, who had been sent to the tense Black Sea peninsula by UN chief Ban Ki-moon, was confronted by armed men after visiting the Ukrainian naval headquarters in Crimea’s capital Simferopol, he told CNN television.
Prevented from returning to his vehicle, Serry said the men who refused to identify themselves said “they have received orders…. to bring me immediately to the airport” although they declined to say from whom.
“They said it was in my own safety. I refused and a standoff ensued,” he added, saying at one point his driver was pulled from the car.
Serry sought refuge in a local cafe with his assistant to phone the mission and then after a tense two-hour standoff, he was driven to the airport and boarded the first flight out of the region — to Istanbul.
US Secretary of State John Kerry greets Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk [Andrew Kravchenko/AP/Press Association Images]
Pro-Russian forces also entered and took over parts of a Ukrainian missile base yesterday in the latest such incident on the peninsula, while a Ukrainian court ordered the arrest of Crimea’s newly installed pro-Russian prime minister Sergiy Aksyonov for separatism.
Violent protests have also broken out in cities in mainly Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine, where several regional government buildings have been taken over by pro-Russian militants who have clashed with police.
But US Secretary of State John Kerry said he was hopeful of a “de-escalation” in the stand-off on the eve of the EU summit after meeting Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, who pressed for early elections in Kiev.
Yanukovych fled to Russia following a bloodbath in Kiev in which scores of protesters and police officers were killed and, although he insists he is the legitimate president, Moscow has signalled his time is over.
Western leaders have at the same time increased diplomatic pressure on Russia, with some threatening to boycott the G8 summit in Russia in June and NATO saying it will review a series of accords with Moscow.
More stringent sanctions against Russian officials have been mooted but their prospect is seen as unlikely, at least for now.
“The logic is to get out of the crisis, not sanctions,” said a source from the entourage of French President Francois Hollande who will discuss the situation with British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the 25 other European Union chiefs.
Demonstrators gather outside the Russian Embassy in Vilnius [Mindaugas Kulbis/AP/Press Association Images]
As part of the international diplomatic flurry surrounding Ukraine, Kerry is due to meet Lavrov again in Rome today to discuss Ukraine on the sidelines of a conference on Libya.
Kerry failed in an attempt to get Lavrov and Ukraine’s interim foreign minister, Andriy Deshchytsya, to sit down for a meeting in Paris yesterday.
Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel has said that the United States will bolster military cooperation with Poland and Baltic states to show “support” for its allies following Russia’s intervention in Ukraine.
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They’re not funny! Sponsored Article Journal? For Shame! Whats the cost these days to manipulate the news?
Hi John F – I think you’ve probably answered for me – as you note, this is clearly marked out as a sponsored post, both outlined in yellow in the stream of posts so that you can tell that it is apart from the general news list and also clealry marked as “sponsored”.
If we didn’t mark this so clearly as a sponsored post, then *that* would be manipulation but as you have noted yourself, TheJournal.ie goes to great pains to point out when something is an ad or sponsored. That way you can then choose to either click in and read, if it is of interest to you, or not do so, if it doesn’t.
Thanks, Susan, Editor.
I can’t stand either of them. They’re the same in ever bloody film they’re in
Likewise, hate British humour.
Ya and killinaskully is perfection.
Father Ted was quality
British humour is similar to Irish humour, no? That’s why Irish comedians do so well in the UK.
Ffs lads lighten up its Friday! Funny is funny, no matter where its from and these two are funny. Where they’re from doesn’t come into. Jeez.
Love these two. Shaun of the dead is a classic. Hilarious. Hot Fuzz was almost as good.
I thought the opposite. I loved Shaun but felt Hot Fuzz was just that bit better. Probably cos of the two Andys
Either way I’m very excited about The World’s End
they are fantastic. i have loved them for years and will for many more.
Give the guy credit he was great as Scotty in Star Trek!
Sorry, but I thought he was absolutely poxy. He has that same stupid, continuously surprised and dumbfounded look on his face in every film he’s in; even on the cinema posters advertising his films.
Spaced is up there with father Ted. A brilliant sitcom.
The fence-jumping scene has already appeared in the trailer.
*pppppppppt* Jog on.
The greatest comedy act of all-time is Dermot Morgan and ardal o’hanlon
The greatest comedy duo is Eamo and Johnny. The straight man n the joker, with some footy in between.
Simon Pegg is humour for bedwetters
have your say