Daily Ukraine Crisis Updates – May 14, 2014

Commentary | May 14, 2014

EWI offers a daily situation report on Ukraine.

Internal Security News

  • Six members of the Ukrainian armed forces were killed in a "terrorist attack" near Kramatorsk, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said in a statement on its website.

Constitutional Reform News

Diplomacy News

  • (ITAR-TASS) Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry referred to the OSCE roadmap on crisis settlement as an “auxiliary instrument.” Prime Minister Yatsenyuk, speaking from Brussels, provided no direct answer as to whether or not he supports the roadmap. In his words, the settlement plan should be “purely Ukrainian.”
  • (ITAR-TASS) The European Commission and members appointed by the Verkhovna Rada Cabinet of Ministers agreed on the need to investigate  events that occurred in Odessa on May 2, when fighting between pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian crowds culminated with a fire and the deaths of over 40 people.
  • German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, speaking from Kiev, warned that the situation in eastern Ukraine is "still dangerous and threatening," and backed the interim government’s efforts to start a national dialogue. Steinmeier said the May 25 elections would play a "decisive role" in restoring calm to Ukraine and urged steps to disarm illegal separatist groups who have seized key buildings in the east.
  • A Ukrainian delegation headed by PM Yatsenyuk visited Brussels on May 13 to meet with the European Commission.

Governance News

  • (Interfax Ukraine) The Verkhovna Rada adopted four remaining bills to allow a transition to the implementation phase of an action plan that will simplify a joint visa regime with the EU.
  • (ITAR-TASS) Ukrainian aviation authorities banned local airlines from making regular and charter flights to a number of Russian regions in the North Caucasus, including Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia and North Ossetia.
  • An inter-faction union of MPs called the Anti-Crisis Group was created in the Verkhovna Rada.