Ukraine’s opposition yesterday warned that the military might move against anti-government demonstrators, ahead of talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry over the country’s worst crisis since independence.
The warning came hours after the army weighed in on the crisis for the first time, calling on Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to act urgently to end the turmoil.
Piling on the pressure, Moscow warned that the 63-year-leader would lose power if he failed to “quash the rebellion,” while Ukraine’s state security service announced a criminal investigation into what it said was an opposition attempt to seize power.
As fears grew that authorities may be preparing to crush the two-month protest movement, Kerry said the US and the EU “stand with the people of Ukraine.”
“Nowhere is the fight for a democratic, European future more important today than in Ukraine,” Kerry told political, diplomatic and military leaders at a Munich conference.
“The United States and EU stand with the people of Ukraine in that fight,” he said.
Opposition supporters are refusing to leave their protest camp on Kiev’s Independence Square despite a string of concessions from the authorities, including the resignation of prime minister Mykola Azarov.
Several people were shot dead in a recent outbreak of violence in the capital, Kiev.
Opposition leaders began meeting top Western officials in Munich on Friday to try to secure support from Brussels and Washington.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk of the opposition party Batkivshchyna told Germany’s president and foreign minister and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton it was “very likely” the military would use force against the protesters.
His warning came after the defense ministry, which had previously said it would not interfere, said the seizure of public buildings was unacceptable and warned that “further escalation of the confrontation threatens the country’s territorial integrity.”
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he was “very concerned by attempts to involve the military in the crisis.”
Yanukovych on Friday scrapped controversial anti-protest laws that had radicalized the protest movement and signed an amnesty bill for jailed opposition activists, but this will only take effect if protesters vacate the public buildings they have occupied within 15 days.
Germany urged Yanukovych, who has been on sick leave since Thursday, to find a political solution to avoid further confrontation.
“If the fuse on the powder keg is already lit then it is highly dangerous to play for time,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in Munich.
“That’s why we have to tell President Yanukovych and his people to quickly and fully meet the commitments he has made to the opposition,” he said.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a