LIVE: Russia begins evacuating diplomatic staff from Ukraine, says report

The United States and its allies sought to step up sanctions pressure on Russia on Wednesday over the deployment of troops in separatist regions of eastern Ukraine

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Italy considers offering Ukraine 110 million euros in aid

Italy is considering setting aside around 110 million euros ($124.75 million) to support Ukraine, whose economy has been badly hit by the on-going crisis with Russia, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio told parliament on Wednesday.

 

Di Maio said the move would be aimed "at supporting the Ukrainian population and economy in areas to be agreed with the Kiev authorities".

 

Di Maio also told lawmakers that Italy would work to limit "as much as possible" the impact on both its economy and its strategic interests of any sanctions imposed on Russia by the West.

 

5:04 PM

EU member states approve sanctions on Russia, EU diplomat says

The European Union's member states have given their green light, via their envoys in Brussels, to a first package of sanctions on Russia, an EU diplomat said.

 

The sanctions still need formal approval by the foreign ministers, something that will be handled in written procedure by 1400 GMT and can normally be taken for granted after the EU ambassadors' decision.

 

The sanctions will enter into force once they are published in the EU's official journal, a step expected later on Wednesday.

4:37 PM

Ukraine to impose state of emergency, says top security official

Ukraine's top security official Oleksiy Danilov said on Wednesday that Ukraine would impose a state of emergency on all of its territory, apart from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions where it has been in place since 2014.

 

He said that the emergency state would last 30 days and could be extended for another 30 days.

 

Pro-Russian separatists have controlled parts of Donetsk and Luhansk since 2014. Russia recognised them as independent states and approved use of its troops abroad this week.

 

Danilov also said that Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had not discussed the development of nuclear weapons, something Vladimir Putin has said posed a strategic threat for Russia.

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Ukraine MPs vote to give permission for civilians to carry firearms

Ukraine's parliament on Wednesday voted to approve in the first reading a draft law which gives permission to Ukrainians to carry firearms and act in self-defence.

 

"The adoption of this law is fully in the interests of the state and society," the authors of the draft law said in a note, adding that the law was needed due to "existing threats and dangers for the citizens of Ukraine".

 

One of Europe's worst security crises in decades was unfolding after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised two areas of eastern Ukraine as independent and ordered troops to be deployed to eastern Ukraine.

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UN General Assembly to hold discussion on ‘situation in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine’: Reuters

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Ukraine urges more sanctions on Russia to 'hit hard, hit now'

Ukraine on Wednesday urged the West to impose more sanctions on Russia that target the economy and the inner circle around President Vladimir Putin.

 

Western nations on Tuesday punished Russia with new sanctions for ordering troops into eastern Ukraine and threatened to go further if Moscow launched an all-out invasion of its neighbour.

 

"First decisive steps were taken yesterday, and we are grateful for them," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a tweet. "Now the pressure needs to step up to stop Putin. Hit his economy and cronies. Hit more. Hit hard. Hit now."