Ukraines president called an emergency meeting of the nations security council and canceled a foreign trip Thursday, declaring that Russian forces have entered Ukraine, as concerns grew about the opening of a new front in the conflict. President Petro Poroshenko summoned the council as the strategic southeastern Ukraine town of Novoazovsk appeared firmly under the control of Russia-backed separatists. Today the presidents place is in Kiev, Poroshenko said. Russian markets dived as fears grew that the country was escalating its role in the conflict, a move that could provoke the U.S. and European Union to impose further sanctions on Russian businesses and individuals. Russias MICEX index dropped nearly 2 percent on Thursday, and major Russian banks VTB and Sberbank dropped more than 4 percent. On Thursday morning, an Associated Press journalist saw rebel checkpoints at the outskirts of Novoazovsk and was told he could not enter. One of the rebels said there was no fighting in the town. Novoazovsk, which lies along the road connecting Russia to the Russia-annexed Crimean peninsula, had come under shelling for three days, with the rebels entering on Wednesday. The southeastern portion of Ukraine along the Azov Sea previously had escaped the fighting engulfing areas to the north.
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 14:17:22 +0000
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