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Ukraine: Live Report

18:30 GMT - WE ARE NOW CLOSING THIS LIVE REPORT after Russia, Ukraine, the US and EU reached a surprise deal to de-escalate the worsening crisis. The four parties agree to "restore security for all citizens", including a call to disband armed groups that have taken over buildings in Ukraine "illegally". While not spelt out in the agreement, these groups could refer to pro-Kremlin separatists who have seized control of government buildings and taken over parts of Ukraine's southeast, destabilising the country. Washington and Kiev have accused Russia of supporting the militants who have occupied buildings such as police stations and government bases, but Moscow has always categorically denied this. The agreement is a ray of hope for the former Soviet republic as many feared escalating violence after Putin had earlier stressed he hoped not to have to use his "right" to send troops into its western neighbour. 18:01 GMT - Pro-referendum rally - Over in Donetsk, some 2,000 people are demonstrating for a united Ukraine in a region where pro-Russian activists have seized public buildings and weapons depots. The rally comes less than 24 hours after a group of about 20 pro-Russian protesters armed with Kalashnikov rifles entered the mayor's office. AFP photographer Anatolii Stepanov says the protesters did not encounter any resistance from the building's security personnel, and told reporters that their sole demand was for the heavily Russified region to stage a referendum on turning Ukraine into a federation with broader local rights 17:32 GMT - Cautious welcome - Ukraine Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia gives a cautious welcome to an agreement that was reached with US Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. Standing before the world's media, Deshchytsia warns the deal must be implemented within 'days' after crisis talks in Geneva. The deal is in sharp contrast to an earlier thinly-veiled warning from Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who left the door open for military intervention in Ukraine. 17:22 GMT - Military aid - Over at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says Washington will send helmets, medical supplies and other non-lethal military assistance to Ukraine. "These supplies include medical supplies, helmets, sleeping mats and water purification units for Ukraine's armed forces, as well as shelters, small power generators and hand fuel pumps for Ukraine's State Border Guard Service," the Pentagon chief says. "The United States continues to stand with Ukraine," Hagel tells reporters at a joint press conference with Poland's visiting Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak. Several US lawmakers -- most notably veteran Republican Senator John McCain -- have issued scathing denunciations of the tepid response to the crisis by the West. McCain, who lost the White House election to Obama in 2008, decried steps taken by the US and European Union thus far as "almost laughable" during a visit to Lithuania on Wednesday. He and other lawmakers have called on Washington to provide military assistance to Ukraine, including light arms and anti-aircraft defenses. 17:22 GMT - 'Not giving up' - "We [the West] are not giving up but we did not come (to Geneva) to talk about Crimea," Kerry tells reporters after talks with his Russian, Ukrainian and EU counterparts. 17:17 GMT - KERRY INSISTS WEST 'NOT GIVING UP' ON CRIMEA 17:11 GMT - Sanctions warning - Kerry warns Russia the West will tighten the financial screw if there is no progress in de-escalating the crisis in Ukraine, threatening to impose more sanctions on Moscow. "If we don't see progress... there will be additional sanctions, additional costs," he says after reaching an agreement in Geneva with his Russian, Ukrainian and EU counterparts. 17:04 GMT - Canada sends jets - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announces Ottawa will send six CF-18 fighter jets to Eastern Europe as part of NATO's response to the worsening crisis in Ukraine. The Canadian leader defends the deployment in response to Russia's "ongoing aggressive military provocation" in Ukraine. "I believe this to be a long-term serious threat to global peace and security, and we're always prepared to work with our allies in NATO and elsewhere to try and bring whatever stability we can to the situation," he says. The United States has also sent fighter aircraft to the Baltic states and Poland, to bolster confidence in former member countries once ruled by Moscow. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania -- which border Russia and have sizeable ethnic Russian populations -- have all sought reassurances, as have Ukraine's neighbours Poland and Romania. 16:56 GMT - 'Grotesque' - US Secretary of State John Kerry angrily responds to reports which first emerged in the Israeli media, which allege that pro-Russian militants in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk sent out notices asking Jews to identify themselves. "In the year 2014, after all of the miles travelled and all of the journey of history, this is not just intolerable, it's grotesque. It is beyond unacceptable," he tells reporters after marathon talks in Geneva 16:55 GMT - Rightful owners? - There is some confusion as to whether the Geneva statement refers specifically to pro-Kremlin separatists who have wreaked havoc in Ukraine's southeast. Lavrov says the agreement states that "all illegal armed groups must be disarmed, ilegally seized buildings returned to their rightful owners" but does not elaborate when quizzed if this is referring to the pro-Russian militants who have severely destabilised the country in recent days. 16:55 GMT - Core interests - Lavrov takes his seat before the world's press and reassures them that Moscow does not want to send troops into Ukraine. "We have no ... desire to send our troops into Ukraine. This is against our core interests," he tells reporters in Geneva. 16:51 GMT - "mass murder" - The Hague-based ICC says its chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda must decide whether or not to ask judges to open a formal probe. Ukraine has not signed up to the ICC's founding Rome Statute, but can ask for a probe to be opened. Its parliament called in February for the International Criminal Court to prosecute Yanukovych for the "mass murder" of protesters in Kiev calling for him to stand down, a crisis that sparked the current Russia-Ukraine standoff. 16:46 GMT - Criminal probe - More from The Hague, where Ukraine has formally accepted the International Criminal Court's jurisdiction to probe crimes committed before and during the fall of ex-president Viktor Yanukovych. "Today the registrar received a declaration lodged by Ukraine accepting the ICC's jurisdiction with respect to alleged crimes committed in its territory from November 21, 2013 to February 22, 2014," the ICC says "The declaration has been transmitted to the ICC's Office of the Prosecutor for further consideration," it added. 16:37 GMT - Illegal armed groups - Back in Geneva, Lavrov tells reporters that a deal has been reached with Ukraine, the United States and the European Union to "de-escalate" dangerously high tensions in the former Soviet republic. The agreement was reached after marathon talks and includes disbanding "illegal armed groups" in all regions of Ukraine. 16:25 GMT - Breaking news - RUSSIA'S LAVROV ANNOUNCES DEAL TO "DE-ESCALATE TENSIONS" IN UKRAINE 16:20 GMT - ICC ruling - Ukraine accepts the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over alleged crimes committed between 21 November 2013 and 22 February 2014 during violent protests in Kiev, the ICC announces on its Twitter account @IntCrimCourt. 15:46 GMT - Diplomatic marathon - Diplomats say a joint statement is expected to come out of crunch talks in Geneva as day-long negotiations between the four parties drag on. "The parties are working on a joint statement about the path forward, but they are not there yet and the meeting is ongoing," a Western official tells AFP. This at least offers a glimmer of hope as expectations had been low of any kind of understanding at the meeting. 15:38 GMT - Flight ban - Russia's foreign ministry has confirmed the ban on travel to Ukraine, saying border guards at Ukrainian airports told Russian airlines it was due to an order from security services. It called for an official explanation, saying Russia would consider reprisals. The ban applies to males aged 16-60 and women aged 20-35 travelling on Ukrainian passports registered in Crimea, according to Aeroflot. The flagship carrier, which flies from Moscow to several Ukrainian cities, recommends that affected passengers avoid travel to Ukraine and says tickets will be refunded without penalty. 15:32 GMT - 'Tactical units' - At the same SBU press conference, a spokesman for Ukraine's border service, Oleg Slobodyan, says steps are being taken to prevent Russian intelligence operatives entering the country. Five "tactical units" are patrolling Ukraine's eastern coastline on the Azov Sea which is shared with Russia, "in order to prevent spy rings landing," he says. 15:28 GMT - 'Russian spies' - Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) says it is holding 10 "Russian spies" arrested over the past six weeks on suspected missions to stir up unrest in the east. "We have identified 10 Russians with Russian passports and they are now under investigation and they are being detained in Kiev's detention centre," spokeswoman Maryna Ostapenko tells a news conference in the SBU headquarters. They were arrested after being suspected of having "spying experience," she says, adding: "The main threat for us now are Russian spy rings. These groups are illegal and can use explosives." 15:21 GMT - Crisis talks - In Geneva, journalists are awaiting a joint statement following the crisis talks. AFP's Jonathan Fowler writes on Twitter: "Waiting for Lavrov presser after Ukraine talks. Not expecting position shifts by anyone." 15:09 GMT - 'Human tone' - Maria Lipman, an analyst at the Carnegie Centre in Moscow, says Putin adopted a "peaceful and human tone" during the broadcast, against the background of Russia’s vitriolic and bellicose state propaganda on the crisis. "He showed self-confidence and magnanimity... and talked about the necessity of dialogue and that we (Russians and Ukrainians) need each other," she tells AFP. 15:01 GMT - NATO 'leaks' - More details of Putin's epic phone-in session have been trickling in after a full dissection. At one point the Russian president used the broadcast to hit back at NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen, accusing him of secretly recording and leaking to the media a private conversation between them when Rasmussen was Danish prime minister. In a hawkish speech Wednesday the NATO secretary general called for Moscow to "de-escalate" the crisis in Ukraine and pull back its thousands of troops massed on the border. 14:23 GMT - 'Terrorism' probe - Ukraine's chief prosecutor says he has launched an investigation into Russian state bank Sberbank over alleged funding to pro-Moscow separatists. "We have started an investigation into Sherbank" on suspicion of 'financing terrorism,'" Oleg Makhnitskiy, told Ukraine's Channel 5 television network. Makhnitskiy said Ukrainian authorities had already put an stop to the financing of "terrorism" by 14 banks and brought more than 300 criminal cases to court. 14:02 GMT - Conscription vote - Ukraine will consider bringing back conscription to boost military readiness in the face of Russian "aggression", following a vote in parliament. Lawmakers approved a text "to recommend to the acting president to restart conscription into the Ukraine armed forces without delay" in order to "bolster Ukraine’s defence capabilities in connection with aggression from the Russian Federation". "Compulsory military service was scrapped only this year -- under a law introduced last year by Viktor Yanukovych, the Kremlin-friendly president who fled two months ago," reports AFP's Marc Burleigh in Kiev. "The lawmakers hope conscription will bolster the 130,000-strong defence forces -- but given that Russia's military is six times bigger, the move seems more symbolic than anything." 13:51 GMT - Geneva talks - Negotiations between the US, Russia, Ukraine and the EU, the so-called "quad" meeting, have been ongoing for almost five hours now -- somewhat longer than anticipated. Talks broke off into small discussions in corners of the room or in the corridor, AFP's Perre Taillefer tells us, with official briefings expected later. 13:47 GMT - Flight ban - Here's the statement from Russian airline Aeroflot on the ban: "In line with an official order received by the company, all Russian male citizens aged from 16-60 will be refused entry into Ukraine." Exceptions will only be made in extreme cases, it adds. 13:39 GMT - Breaking news - UKRAINE BANS ENTRY TO ALL RUSSIAN MALES AGED 16-60: AEROFLOT 13:34 GMT - French planes - France will deploy several fighter jets as part of a NATO surveillance mission in the baltic region from the end of April, in response to Ukraine tensions, the Ministry of Defence announces. NATO on Wednesday announced it was deploying more forces in eastern Europe and urged Russia to stop "destabilising" Ukraine. 13:15 GMT - EU sanctions - The European Parliament calls for the EU to reinforce sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis and to be prepared to target economic interests. In a non-binding resolution, MEPs said the European Union should act "against Russian firms and their subsidiaries, especially in the energy sector, and Russia's EU assets". MEPs are "gravely concerned about the fast-deteriorating situation and bloodshed in the east and south of Ukraine," the statement said. And Russia should stop "supporting violent separatists and armed militias... as well as remove its troops" from the Ukraine border. 13:09 GMT - Following last night's clashes Ukraine's interior ministry says additional police have been sent to Mariupol and special forces have been helicoptered in as reinforcements. Police have been inspecting the site of the deadly violence, circling blood spots, broken glass and a bullet casing with white chalk. Around 300 people attacked interior ministry troops in the city with firearms and petrol bombs. Three of them were killed and 13 injured. 13:04 GMT - Violent clashes - A pensioner in Mariupol named Alla says she heard the shooting overnight in which three people were killed and saw a Ukrainian military helicopter fly overhead as it happened. "The people who died -- we didn't want that. It was a provocation by Pravy Sektor," she says, referring to an ultranationalist group that played a core role in the mass protests in Kiev in February. "Our partisans are not armed and would never open fire on people," she adds. She denies being a separatist but says she wants continued close ties with Russia. 12:53 GMT - Mariupol protest - While talks have been getting under way in Geneva, several hundred people have been demonstrating against Kiev's pro-European government in Mariupol, the southeastern city where deadly clashes erupted overnight. Crowds are gathered in front of the town hall of this industrial port city of 450,000 inhabitants on the Sea of Azov, 100 km south of Donetsk. The building, which is flying a flag in Russian colours, has been occupied for a week by pro-Russia separatists calling for a referendum on greater autonomy from Kiev. 12:36 GMT - Sanctions blacklist - In a new twist on the threat of further Western sanctions, a group of demonstrators have formed a picket outside the US embassy in Moscow, demanding their voluntary inclusion on the sanction blacklist. The rally comes as 55,000 Russian citizens have signed a declaration on their voluntary inclusion in the list of individuals affected by the US sanctions, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency. 12:21 GMT - Putin hangs up - After four hours, Putin finally wraps up his phone-in session. AFP's Stuart Williams gives his verdict: "Without doubt it was an assured performance in a format in which the Russian strongman feels comfortable. Putin made clear he supports dialogue to solve the Ukraine crisis but clearly also left the door open for Russia to use force if it believes the rights of Russian speakers in the east are not being protected. "His comments leave no sign of a rapid end to the crisis in sight but show there is still hope of peaceful solution while also underlining that fears of a major conflict are still well-grounded." 12:21 GMT - 'Obama drowning' - Putin's phone-in has gone from the surprising to the surreal. "If you were drowning, would Obama save you?" one caller asks. Putin gamely replies that, whatever issues they may have, he thinks Obama is a decent guy and yes he would dive in and save him. 12:00 GMT - For those of you who have just joined us, here's a brief summary of today's developments so far: -- Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers have begun Western-backed talks in Geneva, aimed at solving the crisis in Ukraine. Leaders are due to brief the press later this afternoon. -- In a marathon TV phone-in session, Putin says dialogue is the only way to restore order in Ukraine. In a thinly veiled threat, he says he hopes he won't have to use his "right" to send in Russian troops. The call-in also included a surprise question from fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden. -- Tensions remain high in the restive east, where three pro-Moscow separatists were killed in an overnight gunbattle with Ukrainian troops in the southeastern port city of Mariupol. -- Kiev has ordered the disbanding of an army unit after a much-hyped military operation against pro-Russian separatists ended in humiliating failure with six armoured vehicles seized. -- The EU has agreed to talks with Russia on Ukraine gas supplies while Putin warned he would give Kiev a one-month deadline to settle its debt for gas imports. 11:45 GMT - Putin marriage - It's not all about the Ukraine crisis in the Putin call-in... "Again straying from this main issue, Putin is asked when he might remarry after he separated from his wife Lyudmila last year," reports Stuart Williams. "An expectant silence follows but Putin dashes any expectations of a shock announcement by somewhat bizarrely stating that he will wait for Lyudmila to remarry and only then marry again himself." 11:43 GMT - Earlier in his broadcast Putin slammed Kiev for its military operation against separatist activists who have seized official buildings across southeast Ukraine. "This is one more serious crime by the current Kiev authorities," he said. He branded the campaign for the May 25 presidential election in Ukraine as "absolutely unacceptable" and said Moscow will not recognise the vote as legitimate if candidates from eastern regions of the country are harassed. 11:23 GMT - Gas imports - In response to another phone-in question, Putin says he will give Ukraine a one-month deadline to settle its debt for gas imports from Russia. Thereafter, Moscow will demand pre-payment from Kiev for gas, he warns. "We are prepared to wait one month. If after one month we do not receive any payments then we will switch, in line with the contract, to so-called pre-payment," Putin says. This would raise the spectre of Russia cutting off gas to Ukraine if it does not pay in advance and possible disruption of supplies to Europe. 11:16 GMT - Snowden calling - Fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, who has been given asylum in Russia, directly puts a question to Putin on the extent of Moscow's surveillance activities, in a surprise call during the president's TV phone-in. "I'd like to ask you: does Russia intercept, store or analyse in any way the communications of millions of individuals?" Snowden asks Putin. "And do you believe that simply increasing the effectiveness of intelligence or law enforcement investigations can justify our placing societies rather than subjects under surveillance?" His face popped up in a video in the corner of the screen, Stuart Williams tells us. He asked the question in English which Putin seemed to have problems understanding, saying he was not used to American English. It was not clear if the video was recorded or was live. Putin replied that the kind of "mass eavesdropping" on the population that Snowden exposed in the US was impossible as Russia's special services were under strict control. 11:03 GMT - Breaking news - SNOWDEN ASKS PUTIN QUESTION ON SURVEILLANCE IN PHONE-IN SESSION VIA VIDEO 10:58 GMT - Russia sanctions - More on that statement from French President Francois Hollande, warning of possible further sanctions if talks fail: "We could raise the level of sanctions if no solution emerges (in Geneva), but that is not our desire," Hollande tells a joint press conference with Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka. 10:56 GMT - Cabbage prices - Economic concerns are also weighing on Putin in his TV call-in, where discussion has turned to the price of cabbage and bread following a question from a viewer in the Saratov region. "Of course the Ukraine crisis and Russian economy are closely linked and Putin and co must be very worried by Russia’s economic weakness," says AFP's Stuart Williams. 10:41 GMT - Breaking news - EU TO "RAISE LEVEL OF SANCTIONS" ON RUSSIA IF NO PROGRESS IN GENEVA: HOLLANDE 10:38 GMT - Russian gas - More on that breaking news from Brussels: the EU says it has agreed to hold talks with Russia on gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine, warning Moscow its reliability as an energy source is at stake. The EU "agrees on your proposal for consultations with the Russian Federation and Ukraine with regard to security of gas supply and transit," European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso says in reply to a letter from President Vladimir Putin on the issue. 10:31 GMT - Breaking news - EU AGREES TO TALKS WITH RUSSIA ON UKRAINE GAS SUPPLY: BARROSO 10:24 GMT - Putin phone-in - In a lighter moment, Putin is asked by a pensioner named Faina Ivanovna if Russia should also try to take Alaska which was famously sold by imperial Russia to the US in the 19th century. "Faina Ivanovna, why do we need Alaska?" he replies. Putin says Russia has enough Polar territory, joking: "It's cold there too." 10:16 GMT - Geneva agenda - What can we expect from the today's talks? Each side armed with a very specific set of demands, negotiations are likely to be very tough. Washington and Kiev want to get Moscow to demobilise militias and the US has threatened Russia with fresh sanctions unless it makes concessions. But Moscow categorically denies having dispatched elite special forces to Ukraine to stir unrest, instead blaming Kiev's interim leaders for pushing the country dangerously close to civil war. And it refuses to see Kiev's newly formed government as legitimate. 10:10 GMT - Breaking news - HIGH-STAKE UKRAINE TALKS KICK OFF IN GENEVA 09:55 GMT - 'Russian Empire' - Putin gives a pointed history lesson in his phone-in, Stuart Williams reports from Moscow. He says that eastern Ukraine has not always been part of Ukrainian territory and in Tsarist times was part of the Russian component of the Empire. The territory only became part of the Ukrainian component in early Soviet times Putin reminds viewers, adding: "Why they did this, only God knows." 09:48 GMT - Russian troops - Putin, in his ongoing TV phone-in, says he hopes he won't have to use his "right" to send Russian military forces into Ukraine. Last month Russia's upper house of parliament authorised the president to send troops onto Ukrainian territory. But he says: "I very much hope that I am not obliged to use this right." He makes it clear however that he wants "guarantees" on the rights of Russian-speakers in south and east Ukraine: "We must do everything so help these people defend their rights and determine their fate themselves. And we are going to struggle for this." 09:33 GMT - Geneva talks - A long shaking of hands for the cameras between Kerry and Lavrov, in front of US and Russian flags, before heading into talks, Nicolas Revise tells us. Ministers from the four parties -- Ukraine, Russia, US and EU -- are now sitting around a square table, Kerry at one end, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton opposite him and Deshchytsia and Lavrov facing each other. Asked what he expects of the day, Lavrov says merely: "I am not only expecting situation." He refuses to elaborate. 09:27 GMT - 'Critical voices' - More from Stuart in Moscow: "In a bid to show some debate, the studio audience includes voices who have at times been critical of Putin. "Journalist Andrei Norkin, one time presidential candidate Irina Khakamada ask questions however that sound more like praise of Putin. Only Irina Prokhorova, the sister of oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov who leads his party, offers a vaguely critical question on civil society." 09:21 GMT - Putin phone-in - "Putin starting to hit his stride in a well-practised formula of the marathon phone-in session," reports Stuart Williams. "Interesting he is now touting relations with China as being at an 'unprecedentedly' high level, attempting to show Russia has a big ally in the crisis. "He has also reminded us of his first place of work -- the Soviet Union's KGB espionage agency, where 'total loyalty' was the number one rule." 09:02 GMT - Geneva arrivals - In Geneva, US Secretary of State John Kerry has been speaking to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia as ministers arrive for talks, AFP's Nicolas Revise tells us. Asked by one journalist what Deshchytsia plans to tell his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Kerry answers: "We are going to talk about that first." "We are going to talk, and we probably will have a good message," Deshchytsia adds. 08:55 GMT - Crimea forces - Putin admits for the first time that Russian soldiers were in Crimea before and during the referendum on Moscow rule. He says: "Our goal was to ensure the conditions for a free vote. "Behind the local defence forces were our soldiers. They acted correctly, but decisively and professionally. We had to protect people from possible use of weapons." 08:46 GMT - Putin phone-in - AFP's Stuart Williams is in Moscow, listening to Putin's television broadcast -- a nationwide phone-in with the Russian public. He tells us: "Putin’s expected marathon direct line with the nation has started with him launching a lacerating attack on the new authorities in Kiev, who he accused of taking criminal actions, but also talking up dialogue as a way out of the crisis as the Geneva talks get under way. "Putin is now being asked softball questions in a live link-up with Sevastopol, the Crimean port now incorporated into Russian territory. "No one knows how long this event will last. Previous such events have lasted almost five hours." 08:41 GMT - Ukraine army - Ukraine's interim president has ordered the disbanding of the army unit that gave up six armoured personnel carriers to pro-Russian militants on Wednesday, during a much-vaunted military operation in the rebel east that turned to a fiasco, AFP's Marc Burleigh reports from Kiev. The 25th parachute brigade "showed cowardice and gave up their weapons," President Oleksandr Turchynov tells parliament. Another armoured column nearby tearfully took out the firing pins from their guns when confronted by another pro-Kremlin crowd, making the operation a humiliation for Kiev. 08:29 GMT - Putin broadcast - Russian President Vladimir Putin accuses Kiev of driving Ukraine "to the abyss" and says talks are the only way forward. "Only through dialogue, through democratic procedures and not with the use of armed forces, tanks and planes can order be imposed in the country," he tells Russian television. He says claims that Russian forces are operating in east Ukraine are "nonsense", insisting those involved in protests are "all local citizens". 08:00 GMT - Welcome to AFP's live report on the situation in Ukraine where violent clashes overnight have resulted in the deaths of three pro-Russia militants ahead of key talks in Geneva aimed at finding a solution to the escalating crisis. Just hours ahead of the meeting of foreign ministers from Ukraine, Russia, the US and EU, some 300 people descended on the interior ministry base in the port city of Mariupol, throwing petrol bombs and firing weapons. The talks come as scores of pro-Russia separatists have taken control of parts of southeastern Ukraine, seizing government buildings, while tens of thousands of Russian troops are stationed at the border.