Ukraine

Another Ukrainian base in Crimea overrun

KIEV -- Russian troops and self-defense units of Crimea have taken control of another Ukrainian marine base in Crimea, this time in Feodosia.

According to reports quoting officials in Kiev, the troops "used stun grenades and APC" as they overrun the installation located in western Crimea.

Serbian MFA summons Ukraine's charge d'affairs

BELGRADE -- Serbia's Foreign Minister Ivan Mrkić over the weekend on "invited the Ukrainian embassy charge d'affaires to a meeting," Tanjug has reported.

The meeting was "to discuss Ukraine's promotional video about joining the EU that featured a map of Europe without Serbia."

Russia's troops have seized control of a naval base near Crimea's city of Feodosia.

Over the past 48 hours, this was the third successful Russian assault of a Ukrainian base on the Crimean peninsula.

It leaves all Ukrainian bases in the region, which was incorporated into the Russian Federation last week, under control by Moscow.

Region calls for diplomatic solution of Ukrainian crisis

Diplomacy is the only way out of the deadlock in Crimea, officials say.

The wives of Ukrainian soldiers hold a banner reading "No War" during a rally outside the Sevastopol tactical military brigade base in Sevastopol. [AFP]

BELGRADE - Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik said on Saturday the referendum in Crimea was a democratic expression of the people's will, and that RS was observing closely all other similar events in the world.

Ukraine needs energy supplies from the EU, its Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said on Saturday.

At a meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, he explained European gas will help Ukraine overcome repercussions from its standoff with Russia.

Russia will keep its right to appropriately respond to EU sanctions, a spokesman announced on Saturday.

Aleksander Lukashevich, Russian Foreign Ministry's spokesman, described EU's decisions to impose sanctions on Moscow as "detached from reality" and called on two sides to return back to "cooperation which meets their interests", RIA Novosti agency has reported.

The Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe is to send international monitors to Ukraine within 24 hours.

Europe's leading security organization announced Saturday its teams, comprising a total of 100 members, will be stationed in various regions, including south-eastern areas where violence had erupted amid tensions ahead of Crimea's secessionist referendum.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed the law ratifying the incorporation of Crimea into the Russian Federation.

Russia might take Ukraine to court after Kiev violated the 2010 Kharkiv Pact, says Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev.

In a speech at the Russian Parliament, Medvedev said the losses could be recuperated "out of Ukraine's budget", as he was quoted by Russian website Lenta.ru.