Ceasefire under threat as Independence Day imminent

President Barack Obama said Russia’s troop build-up on the Ukraine border was out of the ordinary and called on Moscow to pull its military back and begin talks to defuse tensions.

Ukraine’s former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, has urged Western powers to unite on a hard line against Russian president Vladimir Putin in the Crimea crisis.

What happens now to Ukrainian forces in Crimea is one of many unanswered questions, write Aleksandar Vasovic and Mike Collett-White.

The crisis in Ukraine and Crimea has reached such a critical point that patience, but not appeasement, must be the order of the day.

Ukraine has a new government, but Western leaders should be very careful about what they wish for, argues Geoff Roberts

Dozens of pro-Russian protesters have rallied in the Crimean Peninsula city of Sevastopol, bitterly condemning politicians in Kiev who are trying to form a new government, with some even calling for secession from Ukraine.

Ukraine was plunged into new uncertainty after a deadly political standoff — as a top opposition figure assumed presidential powers.

Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine’s ex-premier freed as the tide turned against her nemesis, president Viktor Yanukovych, is a steely and telegenic figure hailed by the opposition, but also a polarising one dogged by suspicions of personal enrichment and opportunism.

Ukraine’s president Viktor Yanukovych is to return to work tomorrow after a short sick leave.

Ukraine’s parliament is considering an amnesty for those arrested during weeks of protests in the crisis-torn country, but possibly with conditions attached that would be unacceptable to the opposition.

Police clashed with protesters in central Kiev yesterday and the fate of Ukraine’s government was uncertain after embattled president Viktor Yanukovich offered key posts to opposition leaders, including the role of prime minister.