At least 1,000 protesters have gathered in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, the industrial capital of the region, demanding that authorities respect their right for self-determination by allowing them to stage a Crimea-style referendum. The rally was held in the city’s central Lenin Square. Demonstrators held Russian flags and signs which read, “The Republic of Donetsk.” The protesters... 

IMF boss recycles scary mantra used in 2008 to bailout too big too fail banksters. IMF boss Christine Lagarde has recycled the bankster mantra as the globalists push for a bailout of Ukraine. “Geopolitical tensions” in Ukraine “could cloud the global economic outlook” and “could have broader spill over implications,” she told an audience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced... 

Russia has warned Ukraine against integration with NATO, as Kiev approves a series of joint drills with the Western military alliance. The Russian Foreign Ministry has warned Tuesday that Kiev’s previous attempts to move closer to NATO had strained ties with Moscow, as well as the relationship between Russia and the defense alliance. “(Past attempts) led to a freezing of Russian-Ukrainian political... 

Ukraine Su-25 flies below a passenger aircraft during military exercises near capital, Kiev. Ukraine’s acting President Oleksandr Turchynov has reportedly asked the parliament to approve a set of military exercises with NATO, a move that could place US troops in direct proximity with Russian forces in Crimea. Turchynov said Ukraine is willing to conduct two sets of joint military drills with... 

Ukrainians must take up arms against Russians so that not even scorched earth will be left where Russia stands; an example of former Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko’s vitriol in phone call leaked online. “It’s going too far! Bugger! We must grab arms and go whack those damn katsaps [a Ukrainian word used to refer to the Russians in a negative tone] together with their leader,” Tymoshenko said. Tymoshenko... 

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy (R) and Ukraine’s interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk sign the political provisions of the Association Agreement on March 20, 2014. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy says Ukraine’s interim government has signed the “political” provisions of an association agreement with the EU. “Signing [the] political part [of the] EU-Ukraine Association... 

Russia’s Constitutional Court has ruled that the treaty on rejoining the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to the Russian Federation is legal. Valery Zorkin, chairman of the Russian Constitutional Court, said on Wednesday the court had ruled in a unanimous vote that President Vladimir Putin acted legally by signing a treaty to make Crimea and Sevastopol parts of Russia. The court also... 

Secretary of State John Kerry speaks at the State Department in Washington, Tuesday, March 18, 2014. US Secretary of State John Kerry has warned Russia about the Ukraine crisis, saying the “nationalistic fervor” in Crimea is similar to the build-up before World War II. During a speech at the State Department on Tuesday, Kerry said he saw a “nationalist fervor which could, in fact, infect in ways... 

The United States says it does not recognize the outcome of the referendum held in the Ukrainian region of Crimea and is preparing to impose retaliatory penalties against Russia if it annexes the strategic peninsula on the Black Sea. “The United States has steadfastly supported the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine since it declared its independence in 1991, and we... 

Ukraine’s interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk Ukraine’s interim prime minister says the country will likely sign a long-awaited political accord with the European Union next week. Arseniy Yatsenyuk made the announcement on Wednesday, after talks with US President Barack Obama at the White House. “I’m sure that next week Ukraine is to sign the political part of the association agreement... 

Over 95 percent of voters in the Crimean referendum have answered ‘yes’ to the autonomous republic joining Russia and less than 5 percent of the vote participants want the region to remain part of Ukraine, according to preliminary results. With over 75 percent of the votes already counted, preliminary result show that 95.7 percent of voters said ‘yes’ to the reunion of the republic... 

Grainy footage apparently shows Russian tanks on the way to the Donetsk region border. Ukraine warned last night that 80,000 Russian troops were massing on its borders and could invade – as world leaders told Vladimir Putin to back off. A senior security chief in Kiev said Moscow could launch a full-scale invasion and Russian troops would be in the Ukrainian capital within ‘two or three hours’... 

In a confidence-building step, Russia’s Defense Ministry has given permission for a surveillance flight by Ukraine over Russian territory near the border between the countries. Kiev had claimed Moscow was building up its military presence there. “The Ukrainians have asked for an unscheduled observation flight over our territory,” Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov told reporters in Moscow. Russia... 

Washington’s decision to provide financial aid to the coup-appointed government of Ukraine goes against the US laws, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said, urging American politicians to think about the consequences of supporting the radicals in Kiev. Ukraine’s ousted president, Viktor Yanukovich, said on Tuesday that the US plans to loan $1 billion to the country’s new authorities are illegal. “Indeed,... 

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has said that it will deploy Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) reconnaissance planes in Poland and Romania to monitor the spiraling crisis in Ukraine. A NATO spokesman said the alliance gave the go-ahead on Monday for the reconnaissance flights following a recommendation from US Air Force General Philip Breedlove, who is NATO’s Supreme...