UN / UKRAINE REAX

United States ambassador Samantha Power said that that her government was “gravely disturbed” by reports of Russian military deployments into the Crimea and called upon Russia to pull back the military forces that are being built up in the region and to “stand down and to allow the Ukrainian people the opportunity to pursue their own government, create their own destiny and to do so freely without intimidation or fear.” UNTV

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:43
• Production Date: 2 March 2014
• Asset Language: Original
• Subject Topical: POLITICAL CONDITIONS; POLITICAL MOVEMENTS; INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS; PEACE AND SECURITY; DISARMAMENT
• Geographic Subject: RUSSIAN FEDERATION; UKRAINE
• MAMS Id: U140302f

Description

STORY: UN / UKRAINE REAX
TRT: 2.43
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 28 FEBRUARY 2014, NEW YORK CITY

Shotlist

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

24 FEBRUARY 2014, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, Ambassador Power walks up to stakeout position
3. Cutaway, press
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Samantha Power, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“We are gravely disturbed by reports of Russian military deployments into the Crimea. The United States calls upon Russia to pull back the military forces that are being built up in the region to stand down and to allow the Ukrainian people the opportunity to pursue their own government, create their own destiny and to do so freely without intimidation or fear.”
5. Wide shot, Ambassador Grant walks up to stakeout position
6. Cutaway, press
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Sir Mark Lyall Grant, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom, United Nations:
“The United Kingdom believes that any newly deployed troops that do not answer to the Ukrainian Government should withdraw. My Prime Minister and my Foreign Secretary have been in touch with leaders of both the new government in Ukraine and Russia in the course of today and they have stressed the need for every country to respect the territorial integrity, the unity and the sovereignty of Ukraine.”
8. Wide shot, Ambassador Churkin walks up to stakeout position
9. Cutaway, press
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Vitaly Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations:
“We were trying to ask our colleagues to postpone this meeting till tomorrow but they wanted to go ahead now, we didn’t want to create problems, but I don’t have this specific information, I recall from history books that when World War I started some newspapers in the United Kingdom reported that they saw Russian Cossaks at the railway station. So, you know, those reports are not always true.”
11. Cutaway, press
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Vitaly Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations:
“The Russian Federation is of course at least as interested as anybody else in the stability and prosperity of Ukraine. In fact I would claim that for obvious reasons of geography and history we are much more interested in this than some others who profess their knowledge about which way should Ukraine and the Ukrainian people would like to go and maybe this is one of the reasons of the current crisis in Ukraine, that two many visitors are claiming to know the path which the Ukrainians should be taking.”
13. Cutaway, press
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Vitaly Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations:
“We think that the legal aspects of declaring him to not be the president any longer are very questionable. This is our view.”
15. Cutaway, press
16. Wide shot, Churkin waks away

Storyline

United States ambassador Samantha Power said today (28 Feb) that that her government was “gravely disturbed” by reports of Russian military deployments into the Crimea and called upon Russia to pull back the military forces that are being built up in the region and to “stand down and to allow the Ukrainian people the opportunity to pursue their own government, create their own destiny and to do so freely without intimidation or fear.”

She added that the US stands with the Ukrainian people and called for a an “urgent” deployment of a mediation mission to work with all of the Ukrainian parties, emphasizing it be seen as “independent and credible.”

United Kingdom ambassador Sir Mark Lyall Grant said that any newly deployed troops that do not answer to the Ukrainian Government “should withdraw.”

He added that his prime minister and my foreign secretary had been in touch with leaders of both the new government in Ukraine and Russia and they have stressed the need for every country “to respect the territorial integrity, the unity and the sovereignty of Ukraine.”

And Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin said that they would have preferred to postpone the meeting until tomorrow but the Council wanted to go ahead with it. He said that he didn’t have specific information but he said, “I recall from history books that when World War I started some newspapers in the United Kingdom reported that they saw Russian Cossaks at the railway station. So, you know, those reports are not always true.”

Asked whether ousted president Viktor Yanukovych was still president of Ukraine, he said, “we think that the legal aspects of declaring him to not be the president any longer are very questionable. This is our view.”

Last Saturday (22Feb), members of the parliament of Ukraine – which has been witnessing mass protests since last November – voted to remove President Viktor Yanukovych, and an arrest warrant has reportedly been issued for his arrest.
The move comes after more than 100 people were killed last week in the latest wave of deadly clashes in the capital, Kiev.