Medvedev: Ukraine's new government not legitimate Live


  • Medvedev: Ukraine's new government not legitimate

    Flowers are seen placed at a barricade in Independence Square, Kiev
    Live Warrant issued for arrest of Yanukovych on charges of mass murder



    Medvedev: Ukraine's new government not legitimate - live updates

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    Flowers are seen placed at a barricade in Independence Square, Kiev
    Flowers are seen placed at a barricade in Independence Square, Kiev. Photograph: Emilio Morenatti/AP
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    In response to a question from shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander, William Hague says any money provided to Ukraine must be accompanied by reform.
    He says the EU-Ukraine association agreement is still on the table but the priority is to achieve an end to violence and free elections.
    William Hague said he will travel to Washington tonight to speak to the US secretary of state, John Kerry, and the IMF about the situation in Ukraine
    UK foreign secretary Hague says Ukraine will struggle to cope financially without outside intervention.
    He says it is not about a choice between the EU and Russia, it is about democratic accountability.
    With that he moves onto Syria.
    The UK foreign secretary, William Hague, is giving a statement in the House of Commons.
    He sends condolences to the families of those who died or were injured in Ukraine.
    He states that it is clear that Yanukovych’s “authority is no longer accepted”
    Ukraine has a pressing need for political reform and an end to corruption, says Hague.
    He calls for “reconciliation” but also for “accountability” for those responsible for human rights violations.
    Updated
    The Polish foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, and a European Commission spokesman have both been speaking about the prospects for the EU-Ukraine association agreement. It was Yanukovych’s refusal in November to sign the political and trade pact bringing Ukraine closer to the west that triggered protests.
    Sikorski, in Budapest at a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Visegrad Group (V4) uniting four Central European States - Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia - on Monday, said:
    After setting Yulia Tymoshenko free Ukraine has fulfilled all the terms of signing the Association Agreement. The treaty waits for signing and, as soon as Ukraine forms a stable government, it can be signed.
    Olivier Bailly, a spokesman for the EU’s executive arm, said:
    We are ready to sign this agreement once Ukraine is ready.
    But he added that prior to signing “our idea is that we must let a transition process go to its final point” of elections set for 25 May.
    Updated
    Russia Today has some more details of the statement by the Russian foreign ministry. It quotes the ministry as saying neo-Nazi and anti-semitic extremists in Ukraine are being encouraged, pointing the finger at western countries motivated by “geopolitical self-interest”. The ministry is quoted as saying:
    The position of some of our Western partners doesn’t show genuine concern, but a desire to act out of geopolitical self-interest.
    There is no condemnation of criminal actions by extremists, including manifestations or neo-Nazism and anti-Semitism. In fact, these are being encouraged ...
    We urge those embroiled in the crisis in Ukraine to show responsibility, and to prevent further deterioration of the situation, to return to the rule of law, and to stop the extremists in their bid for power.
    The Russian foreign ministry has joined prime minister Dmitry Medvedev in criticising the west’s interference in Ukraine and casting doubt on the legitimacy of the new Ukrainian regime.
    From Reuters:
    Russia said on Monday that a western-backed peace deal in Ukraine is being used a cover for a power grab and interim authorities were using “terrorist methods” to put pressure on dissenters in regions, including Crimea and eastern Ukraine.
    The foreign ministry criticised western support for a snap presidential election in May following Viktor Yanukovych’s ouster and said constitutional reforms rushed through parliament should instead be widely debated and put to a national referendum.
    The Wall Street Journal’s Paul Sonne is at a pro-Russia rally in Sevastopol where demonstrators want the power to choose their own mayor rather than have one imposed by Kiev.
    Here are a couple of submissions to guardianwitness today, showing the memorial outside the Ukraine hotel in Kiev:

    Flowers on the barricades by the Ukraine Hotel this morning.

    People paying their respects to the dead this morning outside the Ukraine Hotel in Kiev.
    Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said there is a huge amount of macroeconomic assistance available for Ukraine as soon as it concludes an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
    Sikorski, one of the European Union’s mediators in the Ukraine crisis, told a news conference in Budapest:
    As you know in Ukraine we have a long record of agreements that have not been honoured. There is a huge amount of macroeconomic assistance available for Ukraine as soon as Ukraine concludes an agreement with the IMF.
    The one positive that Ukraine may take from the comments by Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev is that he said that any legally-binding Russian-Ukranian agreements “must be honoured”:
    Those agreements which are legally binding must be honored. We are not cooperating with personalities or isolated individuals. These are inter-state relations. We are neighbors, close nations, and we cannot run away from one another. Whatever has been signed must be honored. For us, Ukraine remains a serious and important partner.
    There are fears about the future of a gas deal agreed in December under which Russia reduced the gas price for Kiev to $268.50 per 1,000 cubic metres, from the $400 which Ukraine had paid since 2009.
    However, his other comments were less encouraging for the Ukranian authorities.
    He said:
    If people crossing Kyiv in black masks and Kalashnikov rifles are considered a government, it will be difficult for us to work with such a government.
    He added:

    Some of our foreign, Western partners think otherwise, considering them to be legitimate authorities,I do not know which constitution, which laws they were reading, but it seems to me it is an aberration of perception when something that is essentially the result of a mutiny is called legitimate.
    Ukrainian sailors march in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Sevastopol in the Crimea, Ukraine, on Monday.
    Ukrainian sailors march in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Sevastopol in the Crimea, Ukraine, on Monday. Photograph: Darko Vojinovic/AP
    This interactive shows the roots of the language/political split in the Ukraine which is a legacy from the historic Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
    The lawyer for Yulia Tymoshenko has denied that the freed former prime minister has ever said she wants to run for the presidency, Interfax Ukraine is reporting.
    The EU has had contact with several countries outside Europe on coordinating aid for Ukraine, a senior European Commission official has told Reuters.
    Ukraine has said it needs $35 billion to survive 2014 and 2015.
    The official, who declined to be named, said:
    A donors’ conference as the situation stabilises would be one way (to help Ukraine). We have also had contacts with the Japanese, Chinese, Canadians, Turks and the US.
    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.
    Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) in conversation with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
    Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (R) in conversation with President Vladimir Putin before the closing ceremony of the 22nd Winter Olympic Games on 23 February. Photograph: ITAR-TASS/Barcroft Media
    The prime minister of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, has said the legitimacy of many of Ukraine’s governing bodies is “doubtful”, Russian news agency Interfax is reporting. It quotes the former Russian president as saying:


    There is no-one to deal with there [in Ukraine], masked and armed people are no partners for dialogue.



    Updated
    The former Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, has said it is important for Ukraine to stay together, warning against attempts to use the country as a political football.
    He told the Associated Press that the people of Ukraine have a “common history” and that an attempt by the European Union, the US or Russia to “have things their own way ... would be wrong”.
    This video shows the inside of Yanukovych’s palace, where members of the public found bears, wild boars and expensive champagne.
    Updated
    Here is an unusual map showing toppled monuments of Lenin in Ukraine, tweeted by the Polish foreign minister.
    Yanukovych’s former political group, the Party of Regions, which rejected him yesterday and condemned his “cowardly flight”, said today that it is moving into opposition.
    Addressing the former opposition, Party of Regions faction leader Oleksandr Yefremov said today:
    Given that you took the power in your hands, and we can see you have all the capabilities of forming a government and building structures of power, we have decided that we shall be in the opposition.
    According to the Kyiv Post, the Party of Regions faction currently has 130 deputies and remains the largest in the Ukrainian parliament (which is composed of 450 deputies), despite 77 of its members having left its ranks over the past few days.
    People lay flowers at barricades in memory of the victims of the recent clashes in central Kiev 24 February, 2014.
    People lay flowers at barricades in memory of the victims of the recent clashes in central Kiev 24 February, 2014. Photograph: David Mdzinarishvili/Reuters
    Updated
    In response to a warning by US national security adviser Susan Rice yesterday that it would be a “grave mistake” for Russia to send troops into Ukraine, Russia has told her the advice may be better directed towards the White House, Russian news agency Interfax reports, citing a Russian foreign ministry source.
    The source is quoted as saying:
    We have seen the expert evaluations of Susan Rice, which are based on repeated US military interventions in multiple places around the world, especially where the US administration is of the opinion that the norms of Western democracy are in danger or ruling regimes begin too clearly ‘to get out hand’.

    We consider that the current presidential adviser will give this kind of advice about the error of using force to the US leadership in the event of a decision about a new intervention.
    Ukraine’s acting energy minister Eduard Stavytsky has told Reuters he is hoping the overthrow of Viktor Yanukovych will not lead to an increase in the price of gas supplied by Russia.
    Russia agreed in December to reduce the gas price for Kiev to $268.50 per 1,000 cubic metres, a cut of about one third from around $400 which Ukraine had paid since 2009. The reduction was part of a wider financial deal Moscow signed with Kiev after Ukraine spurned an EU trade deal.
    “We hope that the price (of Russian gas) will be stable,” Stavytsky told Reuters by telephone.

    Ukraine consumes about 55bn cubic meters of gas each year, and more than half of this amount is imported from Russia. Gazprom exported 161.5 billion cubic metres of gas to Europe last year.
    The last dispute over gas pricing between Russia and Ukraine caused shortages in Europe over the winter of 2009.
    Two Gazprom sources told Reuters the company had no immediate plans of returning to the previous gas price for Kiev, which is seeking around $35 billion in foreign assistance over the next two years.
    “But this is not Gazprom to decide,” one of the sources said.
    The interior finance minister, Yuriy Kolobov, said today that the country needs $35bn (25.5bn euros) to meet government needs this year and next and expressed hope that Europe or the United States would help.
    Russia has frozen a promised $15bn credit for Ukraine.
    Below is a screengrab of Arsen Avakov’s Facebook page, revealing that ousted president Viktor Yanukovych has been placed on Ukraine’s wanted list for mass murder. He wrote:
    An official case for the mass murder of peaceful citizens has been opened. Yanukovych and other people responsible for this have been declared wanted.
    Warrant issued for Yanukovych
    Arsen Avakov's Facebook post announcing ousted president Viktor Yanukovych is wanted for murder Photograph: /Screengrab from Facebook
    Updated
    A mourner lays flowers at a makeshift memorial in Kiev
    A mourner lays flowers at a makeshift memorial in Kiev. See more images of tributes to the dead in Kiev in our gallery. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

    Arrest warrant for ex-leader Yanukovych

    Ukraine has issued a warrant for the arrest of ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, the country’s interim interior minister has announced.

    Arsen Avakov said in a Facebook post that prosecutors had opened a criminal case against Yanukovych and other officials over “mass murder of peaceful citizens”.

    And as the fallout from the revolution gathered pace on Monday morning, ministers said Yanukovych was seen in Balaclava on the Crimean peninsula on Sunday and had left by car for an unknown destination.
    “An official case for the mass murder of peaceful citizens has been opened,” Avakov wrote on his Facebook profile. “Yanukovich and other people responsible for this have been declared wanted,” he said.
    We will have all the developments as they happen.
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