March 11, 2014

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry today rejected an offer to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the crisis in Ukraine. Kerry told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Russia’s military intervention in Crimea had made any negotiations extremely difficult.

Yesterday, the Putin government accused right-wing militants and Ukraine’s new pro-Western government of spreading “chaos” across the eastern part of the country. In a statement issued to the media, Russia said it was outraged “by the chaos which is currently ruling in eastern regions of Ukraine,” allegedly by masked gunmen attacking pro-Russian demonstrators. Crimea as well as eastern Ukraine is largely populated with Russian-speaking people with close cultural ties to Russia. Western Ukraine is largely populated with Ukrainian-speaking people who want Ukraine allied with the European Union (EU).

President Vladimir Putin  (AP/Wide World)

Secretary of State John Kerry (U.S. Senate)

International affairs experts voiced fears that Putin may use the accusation as a pretext for further Russian intervention in Ukraine, widening the current crisis. The statement was issued one day after the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama announced that Ukraine’s interim prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, will meet with the president in Washington tomorrow.

The unrest in Ukraine began on November 21 when then-President Viktor Yanukovych backed out of proposed political and free trade accords with the EU that would have effectively moved the country away from Russia. Russia has dominated Ukraine on and off  for more than 200 years. Because of its fertile soil, Ukraine was once described as Russia’s breadbasket.

Additional World Book articles:

• Russia in the Post-Soviet World (a special report)
• Ukraine 1994 (a Back in Time article)

March 6, 2014

Members of the Crimean parliament voted today to petition the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin to allow Crimea, the southernmost region of Ukraine, to join the Russian Federation. If the request is granted, Crimean citizens could vote on secession in a referendum on March 16. In Kiev, a federal court quickly ruled that the Crimean parliament’s actions are broadly illegal and issued an arrest warrant for the new prime minister of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov. Aksyonov was installed a week ago after armed men seized the Crimean parliament building and raised the Russian flag.

Nikita Khrushchev led the Communist Party in the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964. In 1954, he transferred Crimea from the Russian Federation to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (AP/Wide World Photos).

Historically, Crimea was part of Russia. In 1954, Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev, detached the Crimean peninsula from the Russian Federation and transferred it to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Since Ukraine was a republic within the Soviet Union, the territorial transfer was not particularly troubling to Crimea’s Russian-speaking majority. However, when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the people of Russian descent in Crimea found themselves in a new country—Ukraine—legally independent of Russia. (Crimea as well as eastern Ukraine is largely populated with Russian-speaking people with close cultural ties to Russia. Western Ukraine is largely populated with Ukrainian-speaking people who want Ukraine allied with the European Union.)

Key leaders of European Union member nations are currently meeting in Brussels to discuss how to respond to Vladimir Putin’s deployment last week of Russian forces into Crimea. In a surprising move, Russian troops, who had surrounded a missile defense base in Crimea several days ago, packed up and left in the night.

Additional World Book articles:

• Russia 1991 (a Back in Time article)
• Russia in the Post-Soviet World (a special report)
• Ukraine 1994 (a Back in Time article)

March 5, 2014

United States Secretary of State John Kerry and the foreign ministers of key European Union (EU) member nations meet in Paris with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to try to resolve the political crisis in Ukraine. Earlier, the EU offered Ukraine an €11-billion ($15-billion) aid package. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso stated that the package of grants and loans was “designed to assist a committed, inclusive, and reforms-oriented government” in Ukraine. The Ukrainian finance ministry has calculated that it needs €25.5 billion ($35 billion) to keep the economy from default. Officials from Russia and NATO were also scheduled to meet in Brussels.

Yesterday, Secretary Kerry visited Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, and offered the Ukrainian government $1-billion in loan guarantees and pledges of technical assistance.  Also on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin held a press conference in Moscow which he defended his government’s military occupation of Crimea, the southernmost region of Ukraine. Putin characterized the collapse of the government Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych “as an unconstitutional coup.” He also expressed contempt toward the United States government, which he declared had interfered in Ukraine “from across the pond in America as if they were sitting in a laboratory and running experiments on rats, without any understanding of the consequences.”

John Kerry (U.S. Senate)

President Putin said that he saw no reason for Russian forces to intervene in eastern Ukraine at the moment but “reserves the right to use all means at our disposal to protect” Russian speakers in the country’s south and east if they are threatened. While in Kiev, Secretary Kerry disputed the idea that ethnic Russians in Ukraine are in danger. Surveying a series of improvised memorials where protesters opposed to what was then Ukraine’s pro-Russian government were gunned down,  he said, “Here in the streets today I didn’t see anybody who feels threatened except for the potential of an invasion by Russia.”

Additional World Book articles:

• Russia in the Post-Soviet World (a special report)
• Ukraine 1994 (a Back in Time article)

March 3, 2014

Russia reportedly has demanded the surrender of Ukrainian forces in Crimea. There are reports that the Russian military has given Ukrainian forces in Crimea an ultimatum to surrender tonight by 10:00 pm EST or face a full military assault. With Russian troops surrounding Ukrainian bases and airports and manning roadblocks that have cut Ukrainian access to the peninsula, Russia is, in effect, already in control of Crimea, the southern most region of Ukraine.

After already having ordered thousands of troops into Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin on March 1 received  authorization from the Russian parliament to deploy armed forces “on Ukrainian territory.” Correspondents reported that the road from Sevastopol to Simferopol, the provincial capital, quickly filled with Russian army trucks.

Ukraine’s acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, subsequently announced that he had put Ukraine’s armed forces on full readiness because of “potential aggression” from the estimated 15,000 Russian troops crossing into Crimea.

In a heated, 90-minute telephone conversation on March 1, President Putin informed U.S. President Barack Obama that Russia had the right to protect its interests and those of Russian speakers not only in Crimea but also in east Ukraine. After the conversation, President Obama expressed his deep concern over Russia’s clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, which he characterized as  a “breach of international law.”

President Vladimir Putin sent thousands of Russian troops into neighboring Crimea, the southernmost region of Ukriane.(AP/Wide World)

In a video address on her website, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko declared on March 2 that by occupying Crimea, Russia has effectively “declared war” on the United Kingdom and the United States. According to Tymoshenko, British and U.S. representatives in 1994 signed the “Budapest Memorandum” guaranteeing Ukraine’s security. “Vladimir Putin is fully conscious that by declaring war, he is also declaring war on the guarantors of our security, the United States and Britain,” she noted.

European Union foreign ministers went into session today in Brussels to discuss possible punitive steps against Russia unless it pulls its troops back to its own bases in Crimea. British Foreign Secretary William Hague urged Russia to pull back its forces in Crimea or face “significant costs,” echoing comments made by U.S. President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry. “The world cannot just allow this to happen,” Hague told the BBC. “The world cannot say it’s O.K. in effect to violate the sovereignty of another nation in this way.” However, the governments of France and Germany have made it plain that the imposition of economic sanctions on Russia is not on the table, let alone a military intervention. International affairs experts note that much of the European Union is highly dependent on Russian oil and natural gas.  In 2007, EU countries imported from Russia 32.6 percent of their total oil imports and 38.7 percent of total natural gas imports.

The people of Ukraine are split over their attitudes toward East and West. Crimea as well as eastern Ukraine is largely populated with Russian-speaking people with close historic and cultural ties to Russia. Western Ukraine is largely populated with Ukrainian-speaking people who want Ukraine allied with the European Union and the West. Today, pro-Russian demonstrators marched in the streets of the big cities of eastern Ukraine, voicing their allegiance to Moscow. In the city of Donetsk, about 1,000 demonstrators, waving Russian flags and shouting, “Putin, come!” occupied the first floor of the regional government building that has already been flying the Russian flag for several days.

Additional World Book articles:

• Russia in the Post-Soviet World (a special report)
• Ukraine 1994 (a Back in Time article)

February 28, 2014

Masked men of uncertain allegiance, dressed in camouflage fatigues and carrying assault rifles, took up position today both inside and outside the international airport at Simferopol, Ukraine, as well as a second airfield nearby. Simferopol is a city in Ukraine’s far southern Crimea region. The men have not, so far, harmed anyone or interfered with normal airport operations, but their presence has unnerved travelers and airport personnel alike. Outside the city, long columns of military vehicles with Russian markings are on the move, and experts on the security situation in Ukraine state that it is unclear what their movement signals, other than a show of strength.

In the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, the acting president, Oleksandr V. Turchynov, informed the Security and Defense Council that armed men wearing the uniform of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet have taken control of a Ukrainian border crossing just outside the Crimean port of Sevastopol. Sevastopol is home to Russia’s formidable naval fleet on the Black Sea. The Ukrainian parliament responded to these provocations with an appeal to Russia to “stop moves that show signs of undermining [Ukraine's] national sovereignty.” The parliament also officially notified the United Nations of the situation and urged the United Kingdom and the United States to honor commitments made in the early 1990′s to protect Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

Crimea, Ukraine's southernmost region, is of extreme strategic importance to Russia. With Russia conducting military exercises along the border, many Ukrainians fear Russia has designs on Crimea. (World Book maps)

In Moscow, the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a denial that its forces have moved into Crimea and declared that Russia has not violated agreements not to intervene in Ukrainian affairs. Many Ukrainians fear that Russia is using the chaotic situation following the collapse of Viktor Yanukovych’s government to take control of strategically important Crimea. (Russia maintains numerous military facilities in Crimea dating from the era when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union.)

Crimea as well as eastern Ukraine is largely populated with Russian-speaking people with close cultural ties to Russia. (Western Ukraine is largely populated with Ukrainian-speaking people who want Ukraine allied with the European Union.) Last night, pro-Russia demonstrators marched on the regional parliament in Simferopol, chanting, “Rossiya, Rossiya” (Russia, Russia) and took control of various government buildings.

Additional World Book article:

Russia in the Post-Soviet World (a special report)

February 19, 2014

After several days of quiet in Ukraine, violent clashes again erupted between security forces and antigovernment protesters attempting to storm the parliament in the capital, Kiev. At least 26 people were killed in the hours-long melee, with protesters, numbering in the tens of thousands, hurling cobblestones and Molotov cocktails at police who responded with rubber bullets and stun grenades. The enraged protesters reoccupied Kiev’s City Hall, which they had vacated just two days before. Militants also occupied and set fire to the headquarters of President Viktor Yanukovych’s ruling Party of Regions. The defense ministry ordered paratroopers into Kiev to defend government offices and military installations.

The latest mayhem broke out one day after it was revealed that Russia had purchased $2 billion in Ukrainian government bonds, providing yet another financial lifeline to Yanukovych’s government. In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged $15 billion to back Ukraine’s struggling economy.

The western half of Ukraine supports closer ties with the European Union. The eastern half, where most people speak Russian and are of Russian descent, continues to support Viktor Yanukovych's move to bind Ukraine closer to Russia. (World Book map; map data © MapQuest.com, Inc.)

The unrest in Ukraine began in November, when Yanukovych rejected a trade deal with the European Union (EU) in favor of closer ties with Russia. International affairs experts suggested that Yanukovych feared that moving Ukraine closer to the EU could trigger painful reprisals from Russia, Ukraine’s largest trading partner. During a natural gas price dispute in 2009, Vladimir Putin cut off the flow of natural gas to Ukraine, leaving the country without heat during a particularly bitter cold January. Russia has dominated Ukraine on and off  for more than 200 years. Because of its fertile soil, Ukraine was once described as Russia’s breadbasket.

Yanukovych’s move to bind Ukraine to Russia infuriated the residents of western Ukraine who want the country allied to the West with its tradition of democracy and capitalism. Yanukovych remains popular in the Russian-speaking eastern half of the country, where economic and cultural ties with Russia are strong.

Additional World Book articles:

• Kuchma, Leonid Danylovich
• Viktor Yushchenko
• Ukraine 2004 (a Back in Time article)
• Ukraine 2005 (a Back in Time article)
• Ukraine 2009 (a Back in Time article)
• Ukraine 2012 (a Back in Time article)

January 22, 2014

Two protesters were killed today, shot by police, in clashes between demonstrators and security forces in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. The fatalities are the first since antigovernment protests began there two months ago. Responding to news of the deaths, thousands of protesters are now pouring into Kiev’s Independence Square. Overhead hangs a cloud of acrid, black smoke from the burning of tires at blocked intersections.

Today’s violence was touched off by police moving in to dismantle a protest camp. Protesters, angered by the government’s apparent tightening of relations with Russia, have been camped out in Kiev since late November. New laws banning unauthorized tents in public areas and prescribing jail terms for anyone blockading public buildings went into effect today. The hasty passage of the laws last week by the Ukrainian parliament triggered renewed protests over the weekend, with young men hurling fireworks and Molotov cocktails at security forces guarding the parliament building. Riot police responded with stun grenades and rubber bullets. At least 200 people were injured in that melee.

Ukrainians protest in Kiev's Independence Square in 2004. Their demonstrations led to the Orange Revolution, an important step toward democracy. However, subsequent governments have failed to live up to the promise of the revolution. (AP/Wide World)

The unrest in Ukraine began on November 21 when President Viktor Yanukovych backed out of proposed political and free trade accords that would have moved the country closer to the European Union (EU). Experts on the situation in Ukraine note that to most Ukrainians, the West represents freedom, democracy, and prosperity. International affairs experts suggest that Yanukovych feared that moving Ukraine closer to the EU could trigger painful reprisals from Russia, Ukraine’s largest trading partner. During a natural gas price dispute in 2009, Russian President Vladimir Putin cut off the flow of natural gas to Ukraine, leaving the country without heat during a particularly cold January.

Russia has dominated Ukraine on and off  for more than 200 years. Because of its fertile soil, Ukraine was once described as Russia’s breadbasket.

Additional World Book articles:

• Kuchma, Leonid Danylovich
• Viktor Yushchenko
• Ukraine 2004 (a Back in Time article)
• Ukraine 2005 (a Back in Time article)

December 18, 2013

The Russian government announced yesterday that the state-owned Gazprom energy company has dropped the price of natural gas supplied to Ukraine from more than $400 per 1,000 cubic meters to $268.50. Russian President Vladimir Putin also agreed yesterday to purchase $15 billion in Ukrainian government bonds. In Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov told his Cabinet ministers that the aid from Russia is saving Ukraine from “bankruptcy and social collapse” and that the lower gas prices will allow for “a revival of economic growth.”

The massive antigovernment protests that have disrupted Kiev and other Ukrainian cities for weeks continued, however. The leaders of the opposition movement are demanding to know what Ukraine offered Russia in return for the aid. Speaking yesterday in Kiev’s Independence Square, opposition party leader Vitali Klitschko told protesters that President Viktor Yanukovych was betraying Ukraine’s independence by joining with Russia.

(World Book map; map data © MapQuest.com, Inc.)

The protests in Kiev began in late November with demonstrators blockading government buildings and erecting barricades in a campaign to bring down the Yanukovych government. The unrest was triggered by Yanukovych’s refusal to sign sweeping political and free trade accords that would have moved Ukraine closer to the European Union (EU). Experts on the situation in Ukraine note that to most Ukrainians, the West represents freedom, democracy, and prosperity. International affairs experts suggest that Yanukovych feared that moving Ukraine closer to the EU could trigger painful reprisals from Russia, Ukraine’s largest trading partner. During a natural gas price dispute in 2009, Putin cut off the flow of natural gas to Ukraine, leaving the country without heat during a particularly cold January.

Russia has dominated Ukraine on and off  for more than 200 years. Because of its fertile soil, Ukraine was once described as Russia’s breadbasket.

Additional World Book articles:

• Kuchma, Leonid Danylovich
• Viktor Yushchenko
• Ukraine 2004 (a Back in Time article)
• Ukraine 2005 (a Back in Time article)

December 11, 2013

Riot police have abandoned their latest attempt to dislodge antigovernment demonstrators from their strongholds, including Independence Square in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital. Their withdrawal came only after battling with protesters for several hours. Wearing hard hats, the protesters had locked arms to form a human chain around the square to keep the police out. In the occupied city hall, demonstrators used fire hoses to shoot icy water at police to keep them at bay.

The antigovernment protests in Kiev began in late November with demonstrators blockading government buildings and erecting barricades on Independence Square in a campaign to bring down the government of President Viktor Yanukovych. The unrest was triggered by President Yanukovych’s refusal to sign sweeping political and free trade accords that would have moved Ukraine closer to the European Union (EU). Experts on the situation in Ukraine note that to most Ukrainians, the West represents freedom, democracy, and prosperity.

Ukrainians protest in Kiev's Independence Square in 2004. Their demonstrations led to the Orange Revolution, an important step toward democracy. However, subsequent governments have failed to live up to the promise of the revolution. (AP/Wide World)

Over the last two weeks, the protests have grown ever larger. Hundreds of thousands of people turned out on Sunday, December 8. At the height of that demonstration, protesters pulled down a giant statue of Lenin, underscoring their rage at Russia over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s role in convincing Yanukovych to back off from the EU agreements. International affairs experts suggest that Yanukovych fears that moving Ukraine closer to the EU could trigger painful reprisals from Russia, Ukraine’s largest trading partner. During a natural gas price dispute in 2009, Putin cut off the flow of natural gas to Ukraine, leaving the country without heat during a particularly cold January.

Yanukovych stoked the unrest even further last week by stopping on his way home from an official trip to Beijing to meet with Putin at the Russian resort city of Sochi. Putin is pressing Yanukovych to bring Ukraine into a customs union with Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. Russia has dominated Ukraine on and off  for more than 200 years. Because of its fertile soil, Ukraine was once described as Russia’s breadbasket.

Additional World Book articles:

• Kuchma, Leonid Danylovich
• Viktor Yushchenko
• Ukraine 2004 (a Back in Time article)
• Ukraine 2005 (a Back in Time article)

September 11, 2013

In a nationally televised address last evening, President Barack Obama argued that the United States has a moral obligation to consider a military strike against Syria for allegedly killing more than 1,400 of its citizens in a chemical weapons attack on August 21. “Our ideals and principles, as well as our national security, are at stake in Syria,” the president declared. He acknowledged that “we cannot resolve someone else’s civil war through force, particularly after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.” Nevertheless, he argued, failing to act against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would erode an international ban against the use of chemical weapons and increase the likelihood that American troops “would again face the prospect of chemical warfare on the battlefield. And it could be easier for terrorist organizations to obtain these weapons, and to use them to attack civilians.”

President Obama, who faces widespread public and congressional opposition to military action against Syria, also said he was willing to postpone action to pursue a diplomatic initiative advanced earlier in the day by Russia. The initiative followed remarks made by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at a news conference in Europe. Asked whether there was anything Assad could do to avoid military action, Kerry declared that the Syrian president could surrender his entire stockpile of chemical weapons within the next week. In talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov then asked Syria to put its chemical weapons stockpile under “international control.” Lavrov noted that the weapons would be destroyed, presumably under the supervision of United Nations weapons inspectors. In response, Syria publicly acknowledged for the first time that it possesses chemical weapons and offered to sign the international treaty governing their use. Muallem also said Syria would identify chemical arms facilities to international observers and agree to dispose of the weapons.

A United Nations inspector examines dismantled equipment used during the 1980's and 1990's in Iraq's chemical weapons program. (Reuters/Getty Images)

In response, Kerry warned that the administration would not tolerate delays and avoidance tactics in implementing the plan. He also said the disarmament process must be “swift and verifiable.” Also on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said any agreement on Syria’s chemical weapons must include a promise by the United States and its allies not to threaten military action to enforce the agreement. The main rebel coalition fighting the Assad regime announced its opposition to the Russian plan. Coalition leaders said the plan was simply an effort to stall for time.

Additional World Book articles:

• Arab Spring
• The Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a special report)
• Syria: The Roots of Rebellion (a special report)
• Syria 2011 (a Back in Time article)
• Syria 2012 (a Back in Time article)