Ukraine, rebels trade 67 prisoners in peace deal

September 12, 2014

DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — In the dead of night, Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed rebel forces on Friday exchanged 67 prisoners who had been captured during fighting in eastern Ukraine, part of a cease-fire deal that has struggled to succeed.

The transfer took place in the dark outside of the main rebel stronghold of Donetsk under the watch of international observers. Thirty-six Ukrainian servicemen were released after negotiations, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said. Ukrainian forces handed over 31 pro-Russian rebels detained over the five-month conflict, some of them Russian citizens.

The cease-fire took effect a week ago but has been routinely violated. Shortly after the prisoner exchange, a volley of rocket fire was heard in Donetsk. The Ukrainian servicemen were driven away from local rebel headquarters around 1:30 a.m. and taken several miles north of Donetsk, where they were met by Ukrainian military officials.

The two sets of captives were brought out wearing handcuffs, which were removed as they were handed over. One representative from each side checked each prisoner against a list and crossed out their name as they were freed.

"There is an ongoing process of talks. We are meeting each other's demands and fulfilling our promises," said Yuriy Tandit, a negotiator for the government. Darya Morozova, who is overseeing the prisoner exchange for the separatists, said she estimates around 1,200 rebels and their supporters are being detained by Ukrainian authorities. She said the rebels were holding several hundred Ukrainian troops, but when asked for an exact figure, she would only say it was "up to 1,000" people.

Morozova claimed the rebel prisoners had been poorly treated and some had not been fed for around two weeks. Another transfer of prisoners is expected in the next three days, she said. Some of the separatists freed Friday were Russian citizens.

One of them, Simon Veridya from Moscow, said he was captured in the town of Kramatorsk, which was retaken by government forces in July. "They shot at our ambulance. There were five of us, including two women. We were taken to custody in Kramatorsk" at the airport, Veridya said. "I was beaten and have two broken ribs."

The conflict between Russian-backed rebels and the Ukrainian government has been raging since mid-April, claiming more than 3,000 lives, according to the UN. Hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee the fighting.

Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of propping up the insurgency in eastern Ukraine with recruits and heavy weapons. Moscow has admitted that Russian volunteers were fighting across the border but denied sending the rebels weapons or troops.

In Brussels, the European Union toughened financial penalties on Russian banks, arms manufacturers and its biggest oil company, Rosneft, to punish Moscow for what the West sees as efforts to destabilize Ukraine.

The EU measures, which took effect Friday, broaden the scope of penalties imposed in July. They increase restrictions to Europe's capital markets, which further limits the targeted Russian companies' ability to raise money. They now also apply to major oil and defense companies, not only banks.

The EU sanctions forbid EU companies from engaging in new contracts in oil drilling, exploration and related services in Russia's Arctic, deep sea and shale oil projects. Russia's Rosneft is majority-owned by the state, but Britain's BP holds a 19.75 percent stake in it.

The sanctions also ban 24 more officials from traveling to the EU and freeze their assets there — including four deputy Parliament speakers and leaders of the separatists in eastern Ukraine. They also hit Sergei Chemezov, a chairman of a state-owned industrial giant and a former Soviet intelligence officer who served alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Cold War.

Speaking in Kiev on Friday, European Parliament President Martin Schulz said the new sanctions signaled to Moscow that there is "no return to business as usual." The United States is expected to announce a new round of sanctions against Russia later Friday for its actions in Ukraine.

Laura Mills in Kiev, Ukraine, Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow and Juergen Baetz in Brussels contributed to this report.

Ukraine's leader visits embattled city of Mariupol

September 08, 2014

MARIUPOL, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's president made a surprise trip Monday to a government stronghold in the turbulent southeast, delivering a fiery speech to hundreds of workers in hard hats in a dramatic show of Kiev's strength in the region.

"This city was, is, and will be Ukrainian!" Poroshenko told metal plant workers in the embattled coastal city of Mariupol. Poroshenko's trip to the strategic port, just days after it faced sustained rebel fire, underscored that Kiev is unlikely to willingly loosen what remains of its grip on Ukraine's rebellious east. It also came as a tenuous cease-fire appeared to be holding Monday between the Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops in eastern Ukraine.

The president spoke from a stage decorated with Ukraine's blue-and-yellow colors after leading the room in singing the national anthem. "Mariupol proved that we won't let anybody burn our city to the ground. The workers of Mariupol protected peace and calm in the city," he said, emphasizing that in eastern Ukraine "our most important resource is people.

But despite the symbolic display of strength, Poroshenko was often on the defensive in his speech, insisting that he had not agreed to Friday's cease-fire out of weakness. He also reiterated that independence for the separatist region was off the table and that there would be no political negotiations to end the crisis other than with "elected leaders" of the region — but exactly who those leaders were was left unclear.

Those comments signaled that, even if the truce holds, eastern Ukraine's entrenched political problems are far from being resolved. The area around Mariupol had remained relatively untouched by violence until the last two weeks, when rebel forces pushed toward the city, shelling its outskirts as recently as Saturday. The port is strategically located on the Sea of Azov, raising fears that if it fell, the rebels could link up mainland Russia with Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Russia in March. The move would cost Ukraine another huge chunk of its coastline and all the mineral riches believed to be under the Sea of Azov.

As Poroshenko spoke, the shaky truce that was implemented late Friday appeared to be taking root. The city council of Donetsk, the largest rebel-held city, said there had been no casualties overnight, and no shelling or explosions were heard in the city. Later Monday, residents reported hearing sporadic explosions. In Luhansk, another rebel-held city hit hard by shelling, the city council reported no fighting for the third night in a row.

Col. Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's National Security Council, said no serviceman had been killed in the past day. Rebels had stopped using heavy artillery and were only using mortar and rifle fire, he said.

"That's a big achievement," he said. Still, he told reporters the rebels had violated the cease-fire half a dozen times. The cease-fire was thrown into peril over the weekend by the shelling of Mariupol and fighting near the Donetsk airport. A previous 10-day truce in June was riddled by violations.

A successful cease-fire would be a landmark achievement in a conflict that has dragged on for nearly five months and claimed at least 3,000 lives, according to a U.N. estimate issued Monday. It has also forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.

In the deal signed Friday in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, Ukraine, Russia and the Kremlin-backed separatists agreed to an immediate cease-fire and an exchange of prisoners. But the more entrenched political issues that helped spark the pro-Russian uprising in April — such as a greater degree of autonomy for the separatist regions — were left vague.

While Poroshenko told journalists in Mariupol that Ukraine's "territorial integrity" was not a negotiating point, rebel commander Alexander Zakharchenko told the Russian radio station Kommersant FM that he would like to see "an acknowledgment of (our) independence" added to the Minsk protocol.

Poroshenko also emphasized that he would only negotiate with "elected leaders" of the region — but who exactly that meant was left unclear. While parliamentary elections are slated for October 26, the rebels could easily derail and thereby delegitimize any future vote in the region.

The cease-fire has left Poroshenko on the defensive with the rest of the country, as many politicians rushed to criticize it as treachery. The country's former prime minister and the leader of one of Ukraine's largest political parties, Yulia Tymoshenko, was quoted by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Monday as saying the Minsk agreement was "extremely dangerous" because it did not demand that Russian forces leave Ukrainian territory.

During his visit to Mariupol, Poroshenko acknowledged that "some people do not like" the cease-fire deal. "Yes, we have enough strength to defend both the city and the country," he said. "But everyone wants peace, and that's why I started talks with President (Vladimir) Putin."

Poroshenko emphasized that thousands of prisoners would be released by the rebels — reason enough for the cease-fire. He later announced that 20 Ukrainian soldiers had just been freed.

Mills reported from Kiev, Ukraine.

Ukraine signs cease-fire with pro-Russian rebels

September 05, 2014

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — The Ukrainian president declared a cease-fire Friday to end nearly five months of fighting in the nation's east after his representatives reached a deal with the Russian-backed rebels at peace talks in Minsk.

President Petro Poroshenko said he ordered government forces to stop hostilities at 1500 GMT (11 a.m. EDT) following a protocol signed by representatives of Ukraine, Russia, the rebels and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

"Human life is of the highest value. And we need to do everything that is possible and impossible to stop bloodshed and end people's suffering," Poroshenko said in a statement. Heidi Tagliavini of the OSCE told reporters the deal in the Belorussian capital focused on 12 separate points but she did not immediately spell them out before heading back into the talks. Poroshenko said a prisoner exchange would begin Saturday and international monitors would keep watch over the cease-fire.

With the cease-fire deal, Putin may hope to avert a new round of sanctions, which the European Union leaders ordered Friday to be prepared. Since mid-April, Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting government troops in eastern Ukraine in a conflict the U.N. estimates has killed nearly 2,600 people.

"The cease-fire will allow us to save not only civilians lives, but also the lives of the people who took up arms in order to defend their land and ideals," said Alexander Zakharchenko, the rebel leader from the Donetsk region.

But Igor Plotnitsky, leader of the separatist Luhansk region, told reporters "this doesn't mean that our course for secession is over" — a statement that reflected the deep divisions which threaten to derail peace efforts.

Details of the peace plan are yet to be released. Putin has suggested earlier this week that rebels halt their offensive and Ukrainian government forces stop using combat aircraft and pull back so they can't shell residential areas with artillery and rockets. Poroshenko, in his turn, has emphasized that Russia must withdraw its troops from Ukraine.

Moscow has denied reports by Ukraine, NATO and Western nations that it was backing the mutiny with weapons, supplies, and even with thousands of regular troops. But a NATO military officer told The Associated Press on Thursday that the ranks of Russian soldiers directly involved in the conflict have grown even past NATO's earlier estimate of at least 1,000.

At a summit in Wales, NATO leaders approved plans Friday to create a rapid response force with a headquarters in Eastern Europe that could quickly mobilize if an alliance country in the region were to come under attack. Ukraine is not a NATO member, but the entire alliance has been alarmed by Russia's actions in Ukraine, and Russia is under both U.S. and EU sanctions for its backing of the rebels.

In his statement, Poroshenko said he ordered the cease-fire following Putin's call on the insurgents to halt fighting. He said he expects the OSCE to efficiently monitor the cease-fire. "I count on this agreement, including the ceasing of fire and the freeing of hostages, to be precisely observed," Poroshenko said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday in Wales, where she was attending a NATO summit, that "if certain processes get under way, we are prepared to suspend sanctions." "We have to see whether this cease-fire is being applied. Do Russian troops withdraw, so far as they're there? Are there buffer zones and things like that — a lot of things will have to be sorted out," she said. "These sanctions certainly could be put into force — this is all in flux — but with the proviso that they can be suspended again if we see that this process really yields results."

The rebel offensive in the southeast follows two weeks of gains that have turned the tide of the war against Ukrainian forces, who until recently had appeared close to crushing the five-month rebellion.

As late as Friday morning, Associated Press reporters heard heavy shelling north and east of the key southeastern port of Mariupol. The city of 500,000 lies on the Sea of Azov, between Russia to the east and the Crimean Peninsula to the west, which Russia annexed in March. The shelling appeared to indicate that rebels had partially surrounded the area.

The seizure of Mariupol would give the rebels a strong foothold on the Sea of Azov and raise the threat that they could carve out a land corridor between Russia and Crimea. If that happens, Ukraine would lose another huge chunk of its coast and access to the rich hydrocarbon resources the Sea of Azov is believed to hold. Ukraine ready lost about half its coastline, several major ports and untold billions in Black Sea mineral rights with Russia's annexation of Crimea.

"Mariupol is a strategic point. If we lose it then we could lose the entire coastline, the whole south of Ukraine," said Tatyana Chronovil, a Ukrainian activist at a mustering point for the volunteer Azov Battalion on the eastern edge of the city.

Col. Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's national security council in Kiev, said seven servicemen had been killed over the past day, bringing the Ukrainian forces' death toll to 846.

Leonard reported from Mariupol, Ukraine. John-Thor Dahlburg in Newport, Wales, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Jim Heintz from Kiev, Ukraine, contributed to this report.

Ukrainian troops routed as Russia talks tough

September 02, 2014

NOVOKATERYNIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — The ferocity of the attack on the fleeing Ukrainian troops was clear, days after the ambush by Russian-backed separatist forces.

More than 30 military vehicles lay in charred piles Tuesday. Villagers said dozens were killed, and some remained unburied. One soldier was blown out of his armored vehicle — apparently by a shell — his body left dangling from power lines high above.

The rout early Sunday near the village of Novokaterynivka marked a major intensification in the rebel offensive, one that the Ukrainian government, NATO and the United States say has been sustained by Russia's direct military support.

Moscow has stepped up its harsh rhetoric as well. A leaked report said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said President Vladimir Putin told him that Russia could take over Kiev "in two weeks" if it wished.

Following a month of setbacks in which government troops regained territory, the separatists have been successful in the last 10 days just as columns of Russian tanks and armored vehicles have been seen crossing the border. President Barack Obama and other NATO leaders will be attending a summit Thursday in Wales to create a rapid-response military team to counter the Russian threat.

Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy adviser, said the Russian leader's statement on Kiev was "taken out of context and carried a completely different meaning." Yet the results of much deadlier weapons of war could not be denied.

The smashed tanks, APCs and trucks were part of a massive column fleeing after being encircled in the town of Ilovaisk, which the Ukrainian government was compelled to concede after weeks of battles. Judging by how close together the stricken vehicles were, the incoming fire was precise and intense.

"They were going to surrender, and they began to bomb them," said Novokaterynivka resident Anatoly Tyrn, who had the turret of a tank land beside his home. Ukrainian army personnel have been allowed to travel to Novokaterynivka, about 36 kilometers (23 miles) southeast of Donetsk, and surrounding rebel-held areas to retrieve their soldiers' bodies.

Villagers and the separatists say the number of Ukrainian military dead was huge, although the government has maintained a tight lid on the precise figure. Tyrn said he believed more than 100 had died. Various rebel fighters separately gave estimates, all ranging into the dozens. Associated Press reporters saw at least 11 bodies in the last two days, although it was clear that was only a portion of the overall toll. Most of the dead were removed Monday, the rebels said, although one was buried so shallowly that the decaying remains were still visible.

"Only a few homes in the village have been left untouched," he said. As Tyrn spoke, the silence was broken by a controlled explosion of abandoned Ukrainian army equipment a couple of miles away. "That's far away," he said, without flinching.

It's uncertain about whether the Ukrainian troops had been offered a safe exit corridor by the rebels. The leader of the pro-government Donbas Battalion, Semyon Semenchenko, wrote on his Facebook page Saturday that there was an agreement. But rebel fighters told the AP a day later that the government convoy included too many military vehicles and weapons to be allowed through.

A group of surviving Ukrainian soldiers outside the town of Starobesheve told the AP that they were fired upon from all sides. Rank-and-file troops increasingly have voiced exasperation at what they say is government mismanagement of the war. Anatoly Babchenko, a soldier captured Sunday by the rebels, was unsparing in his criticism.

"First they drove people to hunger, and now they've driven them to war," Babchenko said from a basement cell at the Starobesheve police station. "They call this an anti-terrorist operation, but this is a civil war. Brother killing brother."

The separatists began fighting Ukrainian troops in April, a month after Russia annexed Crimea. The war has left more than 2,500 people dead and forced at least 340,000 to flee. It also has left Ukraine's economy in tatters. Ukraine might need billions in additional support if the fighting persists through next year, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday. Just covering the shortfall in the central bank's reserves would require an additional $19 billion by the end of 2015, it said.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Valeriy Heletey said on his Facebook page that the counterinsurgency operation was over and the military was now facing the Russian army in a war that could cost "tens of thousands" of lives.

"This is our Great Patriotic War," he wrote, using the local terminology for World War II. Russia's Foreign Ministry dismissed Heletey's remarks as "shocking," accusing him of trying to shift blame and keep his post amid a series of military defeats.

Ukrainian and several Western countries say Russia has sharply escalated the conflict by sending regular army units across the border. NATO estimates at least 1,000 Russian soldiers have entered Ukraine, helping turn the tide in the last week in favor of the rebels. The alliance also says 20,000 other Russian soldiers have been positioned along the frontier.

On a ridge overlooking a road running past Novokaterynivka, rebels stood watch in their tanks. Four trucks packed with grime-caked fighters swept by, along with two APCs and a couple of ambulances, apparently straight from more battles.

Villagers who have not fled appeared almost unfazed by the chaos around them. Children played in a meter-deep (3-foot) crater, collecting fragments of shrapnel. Delivery trucks wove gingerly around charred military vehicles even while unexploded ordinance lay scattered about. One man let his chickens out to feed.

Militiamen searched house-to-house for any stragglers from the destroyed convoy. One man who identified himself as Ivan was detained by rebels who said he had no papers and feared he might be a fugitive Ukrainian soldier. He was left lying on a pile of sand with a T-shirt over his bloodied face, his hands and legs bound with tape.

Associated Press writers Vladimir Isachenkov and Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow and Jim Heintz in Kiev contributed to this report.

Pro-Russian rebels lower demands in peace talks

September 01, 2014

MOSCOW (AP) — Pro-Russian rebels softened their demand for full independence Monday, saying they would respect Ukraine's sovereignty in exchange for autonomy — a shift that reflects Moscow's desire to strike a deal at a new round of peace talks.

The insurgents' platform, released at the start of Monday's negotiations in Minsk, the Belorussian capital, represented a significant change in their vision for the future of Ukraine's eastern, mainly Russian-speaking region.

It remains unclear, however, whether the talks can reach a compromise amid the brutal fighting that has continued in eastern Ukraine. On Monday, the rebels pushed Ukrainian government forces from an airport near Luhansk, the second-largest rebel-held city, the latest in a series of military gains.

The peace talks in Minsk follow last week's meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko. The negotiations involve former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma; Russia's ambassador to Ukraine; an envoy from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and representatives of the rebels.

Yet similar talks earlier this summer produced no visible results. Unlike the previous rounds, this time rebels said in a statement carried by Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency that they are willing to discuss "the preservation of the united economic, cultural and political space of Ukraine." In return, they demanded a comprehensive amnesty and broad local powers that would include being able to appoint their own local law enforcement officials.

This deal is only for eastern Ukraine. There are no negotiations on handing back Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed in March, a move that cost Ukraine several major ports, half its coastline and untold billions in Black Sea oil and mineral rights.

The talks lasted for several hours Monday and were adjourned until Friday, when the parties are to discuss a cease-fire and an exchange of prisoners, rebel negotiator Andrei Purgin said, according to RIA Novosti.

The rebels' more moderate negotiating platform appeared to reflect Putin's desire to make a deal that would allow Russia to avoid more punitive Western sanctions while preserving a significant degree of leverage over its neighbor.

Over the weekend, the European Union leaders agreed to prepare a new round of sanctions that could be enacted in a week, after NATO accused Russia of sending tanks and troops into southeastern Ukraine. A NATO summit in Wales on Thursday is also expected to approve measures designed to counter Russia's aggressive actions in Ukraine.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said participants in Monday's talks needed to push for an immediate, unconditional cease-fire. He rejected claims by the Ukrainian government, NATO and Western nations that Russia has already sent troops, artillery and tanks across Ukraine's southeast border to reinforce the separatists.

"There will be no military intervention," Lavrov told students at Moscow State Institute of International Relations on Monday, the first day of classes for schools and universities across Russia. "We call for an exclusively peaceful settlement of this severe crisis, this tragedy."

Despite the Russian denials, Ukrainian National Security Council spokesman Col. Andriy Lysenko said Monday that "not less than four battalions and tactical groups of the Russian armed forces are active in Ukraine." A battalion consists of about 400 soldiers.

In the past week, after losing ground to Ukrainian troops for nearly a month, the rebels opened a new front along Ukraine's southeastern Sea of Azov coast and are pushing back elsewhere. The coastal assault has raised concerns the rebels are aiming to establish a land corridor from Russia all the way to Crimea.

Lysenko said Monday that Ukrainian forces had been ordered to retreat from the airport in Luhansk in the face of an intensifying assault that he blamed on "professional artillery gunmen of the Russian armed forces."

On Sunday, missiles fired from the shore sunk one of two Ukrainian coast guard cutters 3 miles (5 kilometers) out to sea, Lysenko said. He said eight crewmen were rescued, but the Interfax news agency cited a spokesman for the border guards' service as saying two crewmen were missing and seven were rescued.

Fighting in eastern Ukraine between the separatists and the government in Kiev began in mid-April, a month after the annexation of Crimea. The fighting has killed nearly 2,600 people and forced over 340,000 to flee their homes, according to the U.N.

President Barack Obama and the leaders of NATO's other member countries will attend a summit in Wales that is expected to approve the creation of a high-readiness force to help protect member nations against potential Russian aggression.

"(This) ensures that we have the right forces and the right equipment in the right place at the right time," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Monday. "Not because NATO wants to attack anyone. But because the dangers and the threats are more present and more visible. And we will do what it takes to defend our allies."

The plan envisages creating a force of several thousand troops contributed on a rotating basis by the 28 NATO countries. Equipment and supplies for the force are to be stockpiled in Eastern Europe "so this force can travel light, but strike hard if needed," Rasmussen said.

An influential U.S. senator told reporters in Kiev that he would urge Obama to give Ukraine defensive weapons. Decrying what he called "an invasion by Russia into Ukraine with thousands of soldiers, columns of tanks, missiles and other artillery," Senator Robert Menendez, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said "Ukraine has to be given defensive weapons so that it can defend itself from the aggression it is facing."

He declined to elaborate on what weapons he envisioned Ukraine receiving. Menendez also characterized the conflict in broader terms. "This is a Russian fight against Europe being fought on Ukrainian territory. Everything that Putin doesn't like, he sees in the Ukrainian people's desire to turn to the West," he said.

Heintz reported from Kiev, Ukraine. Lynn Berry in Moscow and John-Thor Dahlburg in Brussels this report.

Russian-backed rebels aim to push west along coast

August 29, 2014

NOVOAZOVSK, Ukraine (AP) — Their tanks bearing the flag of their would-be state, Russian-backed separatists held control Friday over this coastal town on the new front in the Ukraine conflict and announced their intention to keep pushing west toward a major port city.

None of the half-dozen tanks seen by Associated Press reporters in the town of about 12,000 people bore Russian markings, but the packaging on their field rations said they were issued by the Russian army.

The Ukrainian government the day before accused Russia of sending tanks, artillery and troops across the border, and NATO estimated at least 1,000 Russian troops were in Ukraine. As tensions rose, European Union foreign ministers called for heavier sanctions against Moscow ahead of Saturday's summit of EU leaders in Brussels. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was invited to address the summit.

The rebels denied they are getting Russian military vehicles. "We are fighting with the machinery the (Ukrainian forces) abandon. They just dump it and flee," said a rebel commander who identified himself by the nom de guerre Frantsuz, or the Frenchman.

Although such claims of using only confiscated Ukrainian equipment are common, top rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko himself has said Russia was supplying equipment and fighters — something Moscow has steadfastly denied doing.

"Despite Moscow's hollow denials, it is now clear that Russian troops and equipment have illegally crossed the border," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Friday. "This is a blatant violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. It defies all diplomatic efforts for a peaceful solution."

A spokesman for the rebels in Novoazovsk, who identified himself only as Alexander, said their plan was to push westward to the major port city of Mariupol, about 35 kilometers (20 miles) away. There was no sign of imminent movement on Friday, but Alexander's statement underlined fears that the rebels' eventual aim is to establish a land bridge between the Russian mainland and the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia earlier this year.

Speaking at a Kremlin-organized youth camp on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin likened the Ukrainian government's efforts to put down the separatist uprising to the Nazi siege of Leningrad in 1941-44.

The Leningrad comparison is a powerful one for Russians and clearly aimed at portraying the Ukraine conflict in stark, good-versus-evil terms. The 872-day siege, in which at least 670,000 civilians died, is seen by many Russians as one of the most heroic chapters in the country's history.

To stop the bloodshed, the Kiev government should open talks with the rebels, Putin said. The death toll in the fighting reached nearly 2,600 as of Wednesday, said Ivan Simonovic, U.N. assistant secretary-general for human rights. He described the humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine as "alarming," with people unable to leave cities caught up in the fighting.

The U.N. human rights office on Friday accused both sides of deliberately targeting civilians. The separatists have carried out murders, torture and abductions along with other serious human rights abuses, while Ukraine's military is guilty of such acts as arbitrary detentions, disappearances and torture, the organization said in a report.

At a meeting in Milan, several EU foreign ministers accused Russia of invading eastern Ukraine and said Moscow should be punished with additional sanctions. The diplomats were expected to draw up measures that could put before the EU heads of state on Saturday.

The head of the EU's executive Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, warned Putin that further destabilization of Ukraine "will carry high costs." Putin called on the separatists to release Ukrainian soldiers who have been surrounded by the rebels in eastern Ukraine. He appeared to be referring to soldiers trapped outside the town of Ilovaysk, east of Donetsk, for nearly a week.

Zakharchenko, the rebel leader, said the Ukrainian troops would have to lay down their arms before they would be allowed to go "so that this weaponry and ammunition will not be used against us in future."

A spokesman for Ukraine's national security council, Col. Andriy Lysenko, rejected the demand: "Ukraine is not ready to surrender arms and kneel in front of the aggressor." Ukraine, meanwhile, got a boost from the International Monetary Fund, which said Friday it had approved payment of a $1.39 billion aid installment as part of a financial support package. The sum brings the total that has been paid out to $4.51 billion, out of $16.67 billion due over two years.

For the second day, Russian markets reacted nervously to the escalation of the conflict, with the Russian ruble sliding to the all-time low of 37.10 rubles against the dollar in early morning trading. It recovered later to 36.90 rubles.

Juergen Baetz reported from Milan. Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow, Jim Heintz in Kiev, and Raf Casert in Brussels contributed reporting.

Pro-Russia separatists in control of coastal town

August 29, 2014

NOVOAZOVSK, Ukraine (AP) — Pro-Russia separatists, relaxed and well-equipped, held firm control on Friday of the strategic coastal town of Novoazovsk, a day after Ukraine claimed tanks and armored vehicles had invaded from Russia.

Associated Press reporters saw at least a half-dozen tanks in the town of about 12,000 people, bearing the flags of Novorossiya, the would-be state proclaimed by rebels in two eastern Ukraine regions. None of the tanks bore Russian markings, but ready-made meals seen near one of the tanks carried markings that they were issued by the Russian army.

"There is no Russian equipment coming through here. We are fighting with the machinery the (Ukrainian forces) abandon. They just dump it and flee," said a rebel commander who identified himself only by the nom-de-guerre Frantsuz (The Frenchman).

Although such claims of using only confiscated Ukrainian equipment are common, top rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko himself has said Russia was supplying equipment and fighters. And Russia's consistent rejection of the allegations is hotly dismissed by the West.

"Despite Moscow's hollow denials, it is now clear that Russian troops and equipment have illegally crossed the border," NATO Secretary-General Ander Fogh Rasmussen said Friday. "This is a blatant violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. It defies all diplomatic efforts for a peaceful solution."

On Thursday, NATO said at least 1,000 Russian troops are in Ukraine and later released what it said were satellite photos of Russian self-propelled artillery units moving last week. A spokesman for the rebels in Novoazovsk, who identified himself only as Alexander, said their plan was to try to eventually push westward to the major port city of Mariupol, about 35 kilometers (20 miles) away. There was no sign of imminent movement on Friday, but Alexander's statement underlined fears that the rebels' eventual aim is to establish a land bridge between Russia and the Russia-annexed Crimea peninsula further to the west.

The rebels also showed four Ukrainian soldiers and a wounded fighter from the pro-government Azov Battalion who were being held captive. The wounded fighter, Maxim, said he was taken when his vehicle was ambushed and two comrades killed. "Now I am here and there are negotiations taking place for me to be exchanged," he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called on pro-Russian separatists to release Ukrainian soldiers who have been surrounded by the rebels in eastern Ukraine. Putin's statement came several hours after Ukraine accused Russia of entering its territory with tanks, artillery and troops, and Western powers accused Moscow of lying about its role and dangerously escalating the conflict.

"I'm calling on insurgents to open a humanitarian corridor for Ukrainian troops who were surrounded in order to avoid senseless deaths," Putin said in the statement published on the Kremlin's web-site in the early hours on Friday.

Putin didn't address the claims about Russia's military presence in Ukraine. Instead, he lauded the pro-Russian separatists for "undermining Kiev's military operation which threatened lives of the residents of Donbass and has already led to a colossal death toll among civilians."

Putin's statement could be referring to Ukrainian troops who have been trapped outside the strategic town of Ilovaysk, east of Donetsk, for nearly a week now. Protesters rallied outside the Ukrainian General Staff on Thursday, demanding reinforcements and heavy weaponry for the troops outside Ilovaysk, most of whom are volunteers.

Zakharchenko, the rebel leader, said the Ukrainian troops would have to lay down the arms before they were allowed to go. "With all our respect to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, the president of a country which gives us moral support, we are ready to open humanitarian corridors to the Ukrainian troops who were surrounded with the condition that they surrender heavy weaponry and ammunition so that this weaponry and ammunition will not be used against us in future," he said on Russia's state Rossiya 24 television.

The U.N. human rights office on Friday accused both sides of deliberately targeting civilians. Pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine have carried out murders, torture and abductions along with other serious human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, according to the mission's field work between July 16 and Aug. 17. The report also said Ukraine's military is guilty of human rights violations such as arbitrary detentions, disappearances and torture.

U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic, who visited Kiev on Friday, said the death toll had reached nearly 2,600 by Aug. 27, and described the humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine as "alarming."

Simonovic condemned rebels for preventing people from leaving cities caught up in the fighting. He also pointed to reports of violations by volunteer battalions under government control. Putin compared Ukrainian troops firing at civilians and surrounding cities in eastern Ukraine to the Nazi siege of Leningrad. He said residents of Ukraine's east were "suppressed with force" because they disagreed with what he called a coup in Kiev in February.

The Leningrad Siege comparison is a powerful one for Russians and clearly aimed at portraying the Ukraine conflict in stark and tendentious good-versus-evil terms. The 872-day siege, in which at least 670,000 civilians died, is a major touchstone for Russia's exalted sense of heroism amid suffering.

To stop the bloodshed, the Kiev government should open talks with the rebels who took up arms in defense, he said. European Union foreign ministers met in Milan Friday to weigh the 28-nation bloc's stance amid increasing calls to beef up economic sanctions against Russia. Their discussion was expected to prepare possible further steps to be announced at a summit of the bloc's leaders Saturday in Brussels.

President Barack Obama spoke Thursday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has been a key broker between the West and Russia, and they agreed Russia must face consequences for its actions. For the second day, Russian markets reacted nervously to the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine with the Russian ruble diving to the all-time low of 37.10 rubles against the U.S. dollar in early morning trading, but recovered later to 36.90 rubles.

In Donetsk, the largest city under rebel control, the mayor's office reported sustained shelling across town on Friday morning. No casualties were immediately reported.

Nataliya Vasilyeva reported from Moscow. Jim Heintz in Kiev, and Raf Casert in Brussels contributed reporting.

5 free things to see and do in Edinburgh

September 25, 2014

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — Scotland has made headlines lately with voters rejecting independence and choosing instead to remain part of the United Kingdom. Visitors will naturally be curious about the centuries of history that led to Scotland's distinct culture. And a visit to the country's capital, Edinburgh, with its historic 16th century tenements and grandiose 19th century town houses, is a tale of two cities in one.

More than 600 years of history seep from every pore of Edinburgh's volcanic foundations. Tales of genius and enlightenment are mingled with those of body-snatchers, witches and revolutionaries. The Old Town, dominated by the imposing medieval battlements of Edinburgh Castle, runs downhill along the Royal Mile stretching from the castle to the Queen's official Scottish residence of Holyrood Palace.

Exploring the narrow lanes and footpaths between some of the world's tallest 16th- and 17th-century merchants' houses feels like a return to the days of Daniel Defoe, the 18th-century author of Robinson Crusoe and English spy, or the 19th-century murderers Burke and Hare.

In contrast, the neoclassical New Town area built between 1767 and 1890 is a masterpiece of city planning, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a monument to the Age of Enlightenment which put Edinburgh at the heart of intellectual and scientific accomplishments

MUSEUMS Edinburgh is full of free museums within a short walk of each other, including the National Museum of Scotland and its vast array of artifacts from across the world. Nearby the Edinburgh Writers Museum celebrates the lives of famous Scots writers such as Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson while the Museum of Childhood, Museum of Edinburgh and The People's Story provide an informative and entertaining history of the city and its people.

For those with a slightly more macabre interest, the Police Information Center and its museum of crime contains a business-card holder made from skin of infamous body-snatcher William Burke.

ART GALLERIES

In addition to numerous museums, Edinburgh is also home to several free art galleries, including the Scottish National Gallery in the middle of the city; the National Portrait Gallery and the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art.

Old Masters sit alongside the work of some of the world's leading Impressionists and Post-Impressionists in addition to temporary exhibitions, which create a smorgasbord of culture for art lovers.

GO FOR A WALK

Edinburgh is ideal to explore independently but for those who prefer a guide there are a couple of operators, such as Sandeman's Free Walking Tour and Edinburgh Free Walking Tours, which take visitors along the Royal Mile.

Typical routes take in the views of Edinburgh Castle and St. Giles Cathedral, which has over 200 memorials to notable Scots, and the historic Grassmarket and Cowgate areas. No walk would be complete without a visit to Greyfriars Kirkyard and the statue of Greyfriar's Bobby at the corner of Candlemaker's Row, celebrating one of Edinburgh's most famous tales about the tiny 19th-century skye terrier who spent 14 years guarding the grave of his owner.

ARTHUR'S SEAT For the more energetic, Arthur's Seat, a dormant volcano which sits 251 meters (825 feet) above sea level, offers a unique vantage point. No other city in the world has an extinct volcano in its limits and as the highest point in the 640-acre (260-hectare) Royal Park adjacent to Holyrood Palace, it also offers a chance to explore the remains of a 2,000-year-old hill fort.

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT At the foot of the Royal Mile, in the shadow of Arthur's Seat, is the award-winning building of the Scottish Parliament. Designed by Catalonian architect Enric Miralles, it has been hailed as both a modern architectural marvel and an over-priced blot on the landscape. You can make up your own mind with a free guided tour and access to a permanent exhibition about the Parliament or even sit in on the debates and watch democracy in action.

Scottish teens proud, passionate about voting

September 20, 2014

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — They arrived before polling stations even opened, dressed for the school day in striped ties and blazers, dress slacks and tartan skirts, book bags over their shoulders — and for the first time in British history, ballot cards in hand.

Scotland's experiment of allowing more than 100,000 teens aged 16 to 17 to take part in this week's independence referendum has demonstrated how the youngest voters can be some of the most enthusiastic in a mature democracy. More than 90 percent of the previously disenfranchised teens registered to vote — and, to the surprise of many analysts, proved not so ready to rebel against their parents as might be expected.

Many say the Scottish success showed that the voting age ought to be lowered to 16 across Britain and Europe. It happened, in part, because the Scottish National Party expected the youngest voters to back independence heavily. Surveys and anecdotal evidence, however, suggested that wasn't decisively the case.

"We talked a lot about it at school the next day, how we voted versus our parents or our older brothers and sisters," said Sinead McLoughlin, 17, standing with her family outside the Edinburgh Zoo. "A lot of my friends say they voted just like the rest of their family. There seemed to be more disagreement between the older ones, really. I think more younger people did vote yes. But we weren't quite the revolutionaries the SNP thought we'd be!"

McLoughlin voted Yes and was crestfallen at the result. "I'm not too, too sad," she said. "I'm hoping the pandas will cheer me up!" That would be the zoo's most famous residents, Tian Tian and Yang Guang, aka Sweetie and Sunshine.

On social media, news that independence was rejected by a clear 55 percent triggered much grief and some nastiness in teen chat. Some denounced Edinburgh, which recorded the strongest anti-independence vote, as anti-Scottish. Many teens said, because pro-independence activists were so much more vocal and visible, the result felt like a shock.

"I kind of felt like I was the only boy in Scotland voting No," said Iain McLeod, 17. "Then the next day at school, there was this big 'coming out.' Suddenly it seemed like everybody was standing up to say they'd voted No too.

"But you could tell the real believers for independence just by eyeballing them," he added. "You didn't have to ask. They looked shattered." Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, a Scot whose impassioned defense of the anti-independence side dominated the final days, said Saturday that he found the sight of students lining up to vote at dawn among the most inspiring moments of the campaign.

On the day of the vote, Brown said, his eldest son John asked him a question. "Why is it the case that some of the pupils in this school can have the vote and I'm 10 years old and I'm denied it?" Brown told supporters to a gale of laughter.

Brown said the passion of Scottish youth for voting mirrored that of democracy's founding fathers "when they demanded that decisions ... be made not by royal instructions, and not by elites ruling over us, but by people exercising their power through the ballot box."

He declined to say whether he'd like to lower the voting age across the United Kingdom for the British parliamentary election next year and for the Scottish Parliament vote in 2016. Thursday's voting rules showed that, wherever the line is drawn, those too young to vote feel left out.

"Every morning I'd walk to school with one of my friends, and literally all we would talk about was the referendum," said Holly Foxwell, 15, who is in a high school class with mostly 16-year-olds. She'd have voted No if given the opportunity, like her mom and dad.

She said teens should be allowed to vote "because it's our generation really that's going to be affected, more than older people." "I find politics quite interesting, but I know a lot of my friends didn't. But suddenly everyone knew everything about politics. Everyone researched it, because they wanted to know what was going on," she said.

Data on how Scotland voted Thursday is incomplete because of the lack of rigorous exit polling, but partial surveys by pollsters in the hours before and after the vote concluded that the biggest backers of independence were people aged 25 to 34, not the youngest group of 16- to 24-year-olds. Only one survey specifically asked voters aged 16 and 17, finding 14 of them; 10 had voted Yes, four No.

Sarah Buchan, a 17-year-old already studying at Edinburgh University, said she hadn't taken an interest in politics before but now was hooked. She credited social media campaigns tailored to mobilizing younger voters with making her think, defend her views and eventually change them.

"I think it's engaged so many young people that to not be so interested in how it's going to go from here would be weird," she said of the independence debate. "I wasn't really that into politics, but since it blew up so big, especially on social media — you can't not get involved, because it's everywhere. And now I'm interested to see where it goes next."

Buchan said she shifted her support to independence after talking with other young activists. "I've seen a lot of good stuff that made me rethink a lot of things," Buchan said as she tucked into lunch at McDonald's.

McLoughlin felt certain that today's teen voters would get another chance to back independence one day. "And next time Scotland will say yes. I might be in my 30s! But I'll see the day that Scotland is its own proper nation," she said. "I just hope they'll be letting people my age vote for everything by then, because we've shown that we're just as good at voting as anybody else. And it's our future as much as anyone's."

Associated Press reporter Jill Lawless in Edinburgh contributed to this report.

Scots reject independence in historic vote

September 19, 2014

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — Scottish voters have resoundingly rejected independence, deciding to remain part of the United Kingdom after a historic referendum that shook the country to its core.

The decision prevented a rupture of a 307-year union with England, bringing a huge sigh of relief to Britain's economic and political establishment, including Prime Minister David Cameron, who faced calls for his resignation if Scotland had broken away.

The vote on Thursday — 55 percent against independence to 45 percent in favor — saw an unprecedented turnout of just under 85 percent. "We have chosen unity over division," Alistair Darling, head of the No campaign, said early Friday in Glasgow. "Today is a momentous day for Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole."

Independence leader Alex Salmond's impassioned plea to launch a new nation fell short, with Scots choosing instead the security of remaining in union with England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Still, the result establishes a whole new political dynamic in the United Kingdom, with Cameron appearing outside No. 10 Downing Street to pledge more powers for regional governments.

Even in conceding, Salmond struck an upbeat tone. "This has been a triumph for the democratic process and for participation in politics," he said to cheering supporters. The pound hit a two-year high against the euro and a two-week high against the U.S. dollar as markets shrugged off recent anxiety about a possible vote for independence. In early Asian trading, the pound jumped nearly 0.8 percent to $1.6525 against the U.S. dollar before falling back slightly. Britain's main stock index opened higher.

A much-relieved Cameron promised to live up to earlier promises to give Scotland new powers on taxes, spending and welfare. He said the new plans will be agreed upon by November, with draft legislation by January.

But he also said change was coming to other parts of the country amid the watershed vote. "Just as the people of Scotland will have more power over their affairs, so it follows that the people of England, Wales and Northern Ireland must have a bigger say over theirs," Cameron said. "The rights of these voters need to be respected, preserved and enhanced as well."

The No campaign won the capital city, Edinburgh, by a margin of 61 percent to 38 percent and triumphed by 59 percent to 41 percent in Aberdeen, the country's oil center. The Yes campaign won Glasgow, Scotland's biggest city, but it was not enough.

As dawn broke to lead-gray skies over Scotland's largest city, the dream of independence that had seemed so tantalizingly close evaporated in the soft drizzle. George Square, the rallying point for thousands of Yes supporters in the final days of the campaign, was littered with placards and debris of a campaign in which many had invested more than two years of their lives.

"I had never voted before or got involved with politics in any way but this time I thought my vote would count for something," said truck driver Calum Noble, 25, as his voice cracked with emotion. "I wanted a better country but it's all been for nothing. I don't believe we will get any of the things the London politicians promised."

But popular opinion on a leafy residential street in Edinburgh's west end told a different tale. Young and old sat by their televisions waiting for news in a half dozen homes. Nearly all said they had voted No.

"Just because I'm not out in the street in a kilt screaming how Scottish I am, that doesn't mean I'm not a proud Scot. I am. And a proud Brit. That's the point the Yes side doesn't respect," said Ger Robertson, 47, who chose instead to celebrate Scotland's verdict in his living room with a dram of his favorite single-malt whisky.

Salmond had argued that Scots could go it alone because of its extensive oil reserves and high levels of ingenuity and education. He said Scotland would flourish alone, free of interference from any London-based government.

Many saw it as a "heads versus hearts" campaign, with cautious older Scots concluding that independence would be too risky financially, while younger ones were enamored with the idea of building their own country.

The result saved Cameron from a historic defeat and also helped opposition chief Ed Miliband by keeping his many Labor Party lawmakers in Scotland in place. Labor would have found it much harder to win a national election in 2015 without that support from Scotland.

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, a Scot, returned to prominence with a dramatic barnstorming campaign in support of the union in the final days before the referendum vote. Brown argued passionately that Scots could be devoted to Scotland but still proud of their place in the U.K., rejecting the argument that independence was the patriotic choice.

"There is not a cemetery in Europe that does not have Scots, English, Welsh and Irish lined side by side," Brown said before the vote. "We not only won these wars together, we built the peace together. What we have built together by sacrificing and sharing, let no narrow nationalism split asunder."

For his part, Cameron — aware that his Conservative Party is widely loathed in Scotland — begged voters not to use a vote for independence as a way to bash the Tories. The vote against independence keeps the United Kingdom from losing a substantial part of its territory and oil reserves and prevents it from having to find a new base for its nuclear arsenal, now housed in Scotland. It had also faced a possible loss of influence within international institutions including the 28-nation European Union, NATO and the United Nations.

The decision also means Britain can avoid a prolonged period of financial insecurity that had been predicted by some if Scotland broke away. "This has been a long, hard fight and both sides have campaigned fiercely," said Norma Austin Hart, a Labor Party member of Edinburgh City Council. "This has not been like a normal election campaign. There have been debates in town halls and school halls and church halls.

"It's been so intense," she said. "But the people of Scotland have decided."

Danica Kirka reported from London; Associated Press writer Shawn Pogatchnik contributed to this report from Edinburgh; Paul Kelbie contributed from Glasgow; Gregory Katz contributed from London.

High turnout seen in Scotland's independence vote

September 19, 2014

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — From the capital of Edinburgh to the far-flung Shetland Islands, Scots embraced a historic moment — and the rest of the United Kingdom held its breath — after voters turned out in unprecedented numbers for an independence referendum that could end Scotland's 307-year union with England.

Results early Friday brought cheer to the anti-independence "Better Together" camp. With 17 of 32 regional electoral centers reporting, the No side had 56.2 percent of the vote to 43.8 percent for the Yes side. The No side also scored a big win by strongly taking Aberdeen, the home city of independence leader Alex Salmond, by 59 percent to 41 percent.

But results from the big cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow were still to come. The average turnout was 86 percent — a record high. Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson told the BBC she was confident the "silent majority" of Scots would deliver a No victory.

After the polls closed late Thursday, a nationwide count began immediately. Many Scots stayed up overnight in homes and bars, awaiting a result that could possibly change their lives, shake financial markets worldwide and boost other independence movements from Flanders to Catalonia to Quebec.

"Why not roll the dice for once?" Yes supporter Thomas Roberts said at one Edinburgh polling station. "I'm going to sit with a beer in my hand watching the results coming in." At Highland Hall outside of Edinburgh, where the final result will be announced later Friday, vote-counters at dozens of tables sorted through paper ballots, watched keenly by monitors from the Yes and No camps.

Eager voters had lined up outside some polling stations even before they opened Thursday. More than 4.2 million people had registered to vote — 97 percent of those eligible — including residents as young as 16.

For some, it was a day they had dreamed of for decades. For others, the time had finally come to make up their minds about the future — both for themselves and for the United Kingdom. "Fifty years I fought for this," said 83-year-old Isabelle Smith, a Yes supporter in Edinburgh's maritime district of Newhaven, a former fishing port. "And we are going to win. I can feel it in my bones."

After polls closed, some No campaigners said they were confident they had swayed enough undecided voters to stave off independence. They may have been helped by a last-minute offer from Britain's main political parties to give Scotland more powers if voters reject secession, and by fears about the future of Britain's pensions and the National Health Service in an independent Scotland.

British Prime Minister David Cameron was to make a televised address about Britain's future Friday morning after the result was announced. The question on the ballot could not be simpler: "Should Scotland be an independent country?"

Yet it divided Scots during months of campaigning, generating an unprecedented volume and intensity of public debate and participation. The Yes side, in particular, energized young people and previously disillusioned working-class voters.

Many questions — the currency an independent Scotland would use, its status within the 28-nation European Union and NATO, the fate of Britain's nuclear-armed submarines, based at a Scottish port — remain uncertain or disputed after months of campaigning.

One thing was known: A Yes vote would trigger 18 months of negotiations between Scottish leaders and London-based politicians on how the two countries would separate their institutions before Scotland's planned Independence Day on March 24, 2016.

After weeks in which the British media talked of little else, the television airwaves were almost a referendum-free zone Thursday due to electoral rules. On the streets, it was a different story, with rival Yes and No billboards and campaigners outside many polling places.

For Smith, who went to the polling station decked out in a blue-and-white pro-independence shirt and rosette, statehood for Scotland was a dream nurtured during three decades living in the U.S. with her late husband.

"The one thing America has that the Scots don't have is confidence," said Smith, who returned to Scotland years ago. "But they're getting it, they're walking tall." Other Yes campaigners insisted Scots would not allow a return to the status quo, even if the independence bid failed.

"Whatever happens, Scotland is going to be different," said Luke Campbell, a member of the Radical Independence Movement. But some No supporters said the pro-independence campaign had fueled bad feeling among neighbors.

"The country is divided with a hatchet. It's so awful — and it was completely unnecessary," said Fiona Mitchell, distributing No leaflets outside a polling station. If the Yes side prevails, Salmond will have realized a long-held dream of leading his country to independence from an alliance with England that was formed in 1707.

"This is our opportunity of a lifetime and we must seize it with both hands," Salmond said in his final pre-vote speech. Pro-independence forces got a last-minute boost Thursday from tennis star Andy Murray, who signaled his support of the Yes campaign in a tweet to his 2.7 million followers.

Anti-independence leaders, including former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, himself a Scot, implored Scots not to break their links with the rest of the United Kingdom and stressed the economic uncertainties that independence would bring. There were fierce disputes over whether an independent Scotland could use the pound and several major companies said they would move their headquarters from Scotland to England if the Yes vote prevailed.

Many Yes supporters headed to symbolic spots like Calton Hill overlooking Edinburgh, hoping the sun would rise Friday on a new dawn of independence and not just a hangover. But financial consultant Michael MacPhee, a No voter, said he would observe the returns "with anxiety."

Scottish independence is "the daftest idea I've ever heard," he said.

Scotland's independence vote puts UK union on edge

September 18, 2014

LONDON (AP) — Breaking up is hard to do, especially after 307 years. The entire United Kingdom will find out just how hard if Scotland chooses independence in Thursday's vote.

WHAT'S AT STAKE A Yes vote will trigger 18 months of negotiations between Scottish leaders and London-based politicians on how the two countries will separate their institutions ahead of Scotland's planned Independence Day of March 24, 2016. The issues range from whether Scotland will use the pound as its currency to how much U.K. debt it should take on to how the military will be split up — and the results will affect all of the U.K.'s 64 million people, not just the 5.3 million in Scotland. A Yes vote will also ripple across the 28-nation European Union and NATO and boost independence movements around the world, including in Spain's Catalonia region or Flanders in Belgium.

CENTURIES OF UNION The parliaments of Scotland and England passed the Acts of Union that led to the creation of Great Britain in 1707 after centuries of conflict, which saw the rise of Scottish heroes like William "Braveheart" Wallace and Robert the Bruce. The union grew to become a great empire in which Scots took a leading role as inventors, artists, doctors, missionaries, engineers and intellectuals — producing luminaires such as economist Adam Smith, author Sir Walter Scott and poet Robert Burns. The global empire thrived on shipbuilding and manufacturing but fell apart after World War II as nations outside the British Isles demanded independence. Scotland has had its own parliament since 1999, although the U.K. government retains control of issues such as foreign policy, defense, immigration, trade and industry.

TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES Now, after 307 years of union, voters are being asked the following question: Should Scotland be an independent country? Only Scottish residents are eligible to vote but people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will find that the outcome changes their lives as well. It could alter the balance of power in British politics, weaken the nation's economy and ultimately trigger a separate vote on whether the U.K. should leave the European Union.

NO DOES NOT MEAN THE STATUS QUO Britain's political leaders have promised Scotland's government more powers if voters opt to stay. As opinion polls tightened in recent days, the leaders of the three main political parties in Westminster issued a statement guaranteeing "extensive new powers" to the Scottish parliament, promising to share the nation's resources "equitably," and pledging that Scottish leaders would control funding for the National Health Service in Scotland.

WILL THE POUND TAKE A POUNDING? One of the most contentious issues has been whether an independent Scotland would retain the pound as its currency. U.K. leaders have said there will be no currency union. Independence leader Alex Salmond argues this is simply a campaign tactic and that politicians in Westminster will eventually agree to a currency union because it is best for both countries. Major employers such as Standard Life and the Royal Bank of Scotland have said they will move their headquarters to England if independence passes because of economic concerns.

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist for IHS Global Insight, said there's likely to be a major market reaction either way: "A vote for independence is likely to result in a further appreciable sterling sell-off; a vote for Scotland to remain in the UK is likely to lead to a significant relief rally for the pound."

A BOON FOR CONSERVATIVES? Critics have called for Prime Minister David Cameron's head if the U.K. loses Scotland — but Britain's left-leaning Labour Party would also pay a high price. Scottish voters elected 41 Labour members of Parliament in the 2010 election and only one Conservative. Eliminating those Scottish votes would give the Conservatives a 37-seat majority in Parliament and allow them to form the next government without a coalition. In the long term, the loss of Scotland would make it more difficult for Labour to win future elections, potentially ushering in an era of conservative, pro-business government in Britain.

ANOTHER HIGH STAKES VOTE IN THE MAKING A Conservative victory in 2015 would also drag Britain into yet another high-stakes vote. Cameron has promised a referendum on EU membership to appease voters who are concerned about immigration and meddling by bureaucrats in Brussels. Scotland has been very pro-EU, so losing those votes would weaken the camp that wants Britain to stay. Any British exit from the EU would have huge consequences for its economy. The EU guarantees freedom of movement for people, goods and money, making it simpler to do business across the bloc and its 500 million people.

NORTH SEA OIL — RICHES OR NO? Salmond, the independence leader, has argued that Scotland should receive as much as 94 percent of the tax revenue generated by North Sea oil and gas production, which would help fund day-to-day government spending, with any surplus going to a fund for future generations. The independence campaign estimates that there are more than 21 billion barrels of oil equivalent in its portion of the North Sea with a market value of almost 1.3 trillion pounds.

But the windfall may not be as great as independence advocates hope, according to analysis by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. While Scotland's share of North Sea revenue would have been as much as 7.4 billion pounds in recent years, an independent Scotland would lose 7.1 billion pounds a year in transfer payments it gets from the rest of the U.K., according to NIESR. In addition, North Sea revenues are likely to decline in coming years as production slows, meaning Scotland may receive as little as 2.8 billion pounds in 2016-17.

NATO AND NO NUKES The independence campaign supports continued membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, provided it isn't required to base nuclear weapons in Scotland. The country's strategic location would make it a "key partner in NATO's air and naval policing arrangements for northern Europe," independence advocates say. Still, if Scotland is nuclear-free, the U.K. would have to move its Trident nuclear missiles away from Faslane in western Scotland.

Scots decide whether to declare independence

September 18, 2014

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — The fate of the United Kingdom was at stake Thursday as Scotland began voting in a referendum on whether to become an independent state, deciding whether to unravel a marriage that helped build an empire but has increasingly been felt by many Scots as stifling and one-sided.

The question on the ballot paper is simplicity itself: "Should Scotland be an independent country?" Yet it has divided Scots during months of campaigning — and in 15 hours on Thursday they decide on the fate of a 307-year old union with England.

More than 2,600 polling places opened Thursday at 7 a.m. (0600GMT, 2 a.m. EDT) and will close at 10 p.m. (2100GMT, 5 p.m. EDT). Turnout is expected to be high, with more than 4.2 million people registered to vote — 97 percent of those eligible.

Polls suggest the result is too close to call, with the pro-independence Yes side gaining momentum in the final weeks of the campaign. First Minister Alex Salmond was casting his vote near his home in northeastern Scotland. If the Yes side prevails he will realize a long-held dream of leading his country to independence after an alliance with England formed in 1707.

Anti-independence leaders including former Prime Minister Gordon Brown have implored Scots not to break their links with the rest of the United Kingdom. On a foggy morning in Scotland's capital, Edinburgh, a heavy stream of voters began arriving at a polling station in the city center the moment it opened.

One of the first, Anne Seaton, said she had voted Yes — "because why not?" "Scotland got under the English Parliament by mischance," in 1707, she said. "It's time now for Scotland to make a deliberate decision for independence."

Voters expressed a mixture of excitement and apprehension about Scotland's choice. Thomas Roberts said he had voted Yes because he felt optimistic about its future as an independent country. "Why not roll the dice for once?" he said.

Once the polls close, ballot boxes will be transported to 32 regional centers for counting of the votes. The result is anticipated Friday morning. Roberts said he was looking forward to watching the results in a pub, many of which are staying open overnight.

"I'm going to sit with a beer in my hand watching the results coming in," Roberts said. But financial consultant Michael MacPhee, a No voter, said he would observe the returns coming in "with anxiety."

He said Scottish independence was "the daftest idea I've ever heard."

Israel's shadowy Mossad looks to recruit online

September 29, 2014

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — It used to be that if you wanted to join one of the world's most secretive espionage organizations you had to sneak into a foreign embassy, answer a cryptic newspaper ad or show up in a nondescript building in Tel Aviv to meet a shadowy recruiter. Now all it takes to apply for a job at Israel's Mossad spy agency is a click of the mouse.

The typically shadowy Mossad revamped its website last week to include a snazzy recruiting video and an online application option for those seeking employment. With versions in Hebrew, English, French, Russian, Arabic and Persian, the sleek site looks to revolutionize the way Israel's legendary agency seeks out potential agents after generations of backdoor, cloak-and-dagger antics.

"We must continue to recruit the best people into our ranks so that the Mossad might continue to lead, defend and allow for the continued existence of the state of Israel," Mossad Chief Tamir Pardo said in a statement announcing the launch. "The Mossad's qualitative human capital is the secret of our success."

The Mossad, Hebrew for "The Institute," is short for the "Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations." It is the global arm of Israel's vaunted intelligence community and believed to be behind some of the most daring counterterrorism covert operations of the past century. Only a few have come to light, such as the killing of the leaders of Black September — the Palestinian group behind the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games — and Israeli assassinations across Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

There's more to the Mossad than its James Bond aura, however, and you are more likely to land a job in its technology, cyber or administration departments than you are to become an international man — or woman — of mystery. But the site alludes to its secretive nature with a video showing satellites and drones hovering as well as men and women dressed in suits hacking into computers and carrying out surveillance operations.

A narrator says "your imagination is my reality" and the banner at the top of the page reads "join us to see the invisible and do the impossible." Aside from its initial announcement, the agency has been tightlipped about the new media strategy. But at least one former operative thinks the outreach is a good idea.

"It's the 21st Century. This gives them the chance to reach the kind of people they have never reached before," said Gad Shimron, who served in the Mossad for a decade and later wrote "Mossad Exodus," a book about its secret operation to bring Ethiopian Jews to Israel. "They've got nothing to lose. If you throw out a line you may hook a fish."

Shimron said the Internet may draw in some weirdos and perhaps a few hostile elements but the Mossad was fully capable or weeding out the best as it cast a larger net. Shimron said the Mossad used to be more of an "old boys network" with friends recruiting their friends and family. Ads offering "interesting jobs" would occasionally show up in the classified sections and those with multiple passports and a proper security clearance from their military service could get a call, inviting them to an interview. But the options for walk-ins were limited. With the increase of video cameras worldwide, physically walking into an Israeli embassy has become more risky for those afraid of being exposed.

The Mossad insists its online option is safe and discreet. "Rest assured that all approaches will be treated with the utmost discretion and confidentiality so that your personal safety is ensured," the instructions read. "When filling in the form, we suggest you consider whether the computer you are using and your location is secure enough. It would be safer to fill in the form using means that are not directly connected to you. We also recommend erasing the browsing history upon completion of the form."

In going online, the Mossad appears to be taking a page out of the playbook of its domestic equivalent, the Shin Bet security service, which launched its online recruiting campaign in 2006. It still maintains a comprehensive website that includes terrorism statistics, an in-depth history of the organization that details its past operations and a vast portal of career opportunities.

The Mossad, naturally, is shrouded in more secrecy. The site includes some background on its origins and perhaps its most famous operation — the capture of Nazi mastermind Adolf Eichmann in the 1960s. But its activity description is vague and dozens of other well-known operations linked to it are nowhere to be found.

In his online welcome address Pardo explains why. "Information about the Mossad's activity does not reach the public, and often what is publicized many years after the event is but the tip of the iceberg of almost imaginary activity and operations," he writes. "This website gives you a brief glimpse of the Mossad, and will reveal only a little of its past and activity."

Cambodians protest Australia resettlement deal

September 26, 2014

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Australia and Cambodia signed an agreement Friday for asylum-seekers who are refused residency in Australia to instead be resettled in the impoverished Southeast Asian country criticized for its deteriorating human rights record.

Australian Immigration Minister Scott Morrison and Cambodian Interior Minister Sar Kheng signed the memorandum of understanding to resettle an unspecified number of refugees currently held at an Australian-run detention camp on the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru. Most of the detainees arrived by boat from the Middle East and South Asia.

Australia has increased its efforts to deter asylum-seekers from attempting to reach Australian shores by boat, and its current government has vowed that no boat arrivals will ever be resettled in Australia.

But the efforts have concerned activists for refugees, with critics of Australia's resettlement efforts charging that Cambodia is too impoverished to handle asylum-seekers and that its poor human rights record would put them at risk.

"This is a worrying departure from international norms," the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said in a statement. "International responsibility sharing is the basis on which the whole global refugee system works. I hope that the Australian government will reconsider its approach."

Ou Virak, chairman of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said his country was poor and "couldn't give humanitarian support even if we wanted to." "Most of her people do not have access to decent health care, education. Money alone will not able to fix these things for the refugees," he said in an interview by email. "I think they will be left in limbo for years."

The Australian Council for International Development, which promotes foreign aid, declared the planned transfer "unnecessarily cruel." About 100 people demonstrated outside Australia's embassy in Cambodia before the signing, clashing briefly with police.

Neither Morrison nor Sar Kheng spoke to the media after the signing and a champagne toast at the Interior Ministry in Phnom Penh. "Australia will use its expertise and experience to assist Cambodia to strengthen settlement support provided to refugees in Cambodia," their joint statement said. "As part of this commitment, Australia will bear the direct costs of the arrangement, including initial support to refugees, and relevant capacity building for Cambodia."

Morrison told Australian Broadcasting Corp. that Australia would pay Cambodia AU$40 million ($35 million) over four years, plus carry the costs of resettlement. Australia already pays Nauru to house asylum-seekers and has a similar deal with Papua New Guinea. Human rights groups have criticized living conditions for detainees there and expressed concern over the arrangement with Cambodia.

"This deal undermines refugee protection in the region, and around the world, because it makes developed countries think they can pick and choose which refugees they take, and which ones they can offload elsewhere simply by offering development assistance," said Elaine Pearson, the Australia director of Human Rights Watch.

Amnesty International said recent human rights violations in Cambodia include a violent crackdown by security forces on striking workers and activists in January and cites forced evictions, land disputes and land grabbing affecting thousands of people.

Ou Virak said that under international law, Australia needs to provide necessary protection to refugees. "Sending them Cambodia's way is the worst and most irresponsible act Canberra could have done," he said.

In his interview with ABC, Morrison said more than 200 of the 1,200 asylum seekers on Nauru had been assessed to be genuine refugees. The joint statement said an initial small trial group of refugees would be resettled in Cambodia, then others would be sent later. The transfers would be voluntary, and Morrison said the first group should head to Cambodia by the end of the year.

Associated Press writer Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, contributed to this report.

Emotions mount on final day of Scottish campaign

September 17, 2014

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — For Scots, Wednesday was a day of excitement, apprehension, and a flood of final appeals before a big decision. In a matter of hours, they will determine whether Scotland leaves the United Kingdom and becomes an independent state.

A full 97 percent of those eligible have registered to vote — including, for the first time, 16- and 17-year-olds — in a referendum that polls suggest is too close to call. A phone poll of 1,373 people by Ipsos MORI, released Wednesday, put opposition to independence at 51 percent and support at 49 percent, with 5 percent of voters undecided.

That means neither side can feel confident, given the margin of error of about plus or minus three percentage points. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, himself a Scot, told a No campaign rally that the quiet majority of pro-Union Scots "will be silent no more," while pro-independence leader Alex Salmond urged voters to seize a democratic opportunity 307 years in the making.

In its final hours, the battle for Scotland had all the trappings of a normal election campaign: "Yes Scotland" and "No, Thanks" posters in windows, buttons on jackets, leaflets on street corners and megaphone-topped campaign cars cruising the streets blasting out Scottish songs and "Children of the Revolution."

But it is, both sides acknowledge, a once-in-a-generation — maybe once-in-a-lifetime — choice that could redraw the map of the United Kingdom. The gravity of the imminent decision was hitting home for many voters as political leaders made passionate, final pleas for their sides. More than 4.2 million people are registered to vote in the country of 5.3 million people.

Cathy Chance, who works for Britain's National Health Service in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, said she would leave Scotland if it became independent. "I don't want to live under a nation that's nationalistic," she said. "I don't think the world needs another political barrier."

On the other side, Yes campaigner Roisin McLaren said she was finally letting herself believe independence might be possible. "My family has campaigned for independence for a long, long time, and it's always been a pipe dream," the Edinburgh University student said as she knocked on doors in a last-minute effort to convert wavering electors. "Just in the last few days it's seemed possible, within reach. I can almost taste it."

Politicians on both sides expressed confidence in the Scottish public, but uncertainty rippled below the surface. Opinion polls have failed to put either side decisively ahead. Bookmakers, however, told a different story. A winning 1 pound bet on Yes would pay out 5 pounds from many bookies, while the same pound would return just 1.20 pounds from a winning wager on No. One firm, Betfair, has already paid out on a No win.

Brown, Britain's former leader, told supporters that the patriotic choice was to remain within the U.K. "The vote tomorrow is not about whether Scotland is a nation — we are, yesterday, today and tomorrow," he said. "The vote tomorrow is whether you want to break and sever every link," with the rest of the country.

Salmond, energetic leader of the Yes campaign, said Scots would seize "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take the future of this country into our hands." Despite gains in support for independence in recent weeks, Salmond said his side remained the underdog.

"However, as we know in life, in politics and certainly in this festival of democracy, underdogs have a habit of winning sometimes," he said. Amid the uncertainty, even the opinionated Rupert Murdoch hedged his bets. The media mogul, whose newspapers were long considered a powerful force in British elections, traveled to Scotland last week and wrote a series of tweets that seemed supportive of independence.

But on Wednesday his Scottish tabloid newspaper said it would not endorse either side. It ran opinion columns by Yes and No leaders and told Scots: "The Scottish Sun has faith in you to make the right choice."

A Yes vote would trigger months of negotiations between Scotland and the British government over the messy details of independence, which Scottish authorities say will take effect on March 24, 2016, the anniversary of the date in 1707 that Scotland decided to unite with Britain.

In Edinburgh, an unscientific but popular sweet-toothed survey has backed pollsters' predictions that the result will be close. For 200 days, the city's Cuckoo Bakery has sold referendum cupcakes — vanilla sponge with a center of raspberry jam, topped with white chocolate icing — in three versions, adorned with a Scottish Saltire, a British Union Jack or a question mark.

On Wednesday, the bakery announced the result of its cupcake referendum: 47.7 percent No, 43.5 percent Yes, and 8.8 percent undecided. Co-owner Vidya Sarjoo said the number of undecideds had plummeted over time.

"At first people really weren't sure — a bit scared, maybe, to make their decision," she said. The cupcakes, she stressed, "are all exactly the same flavor. And they all taste delicious."

Associated Press Writer Pan Pylas contributed to this report.

Is Scotland and France's 'Auld Alliance' back?

September 17, 2014

PARIS (AP) — As the Scottish decide whether to break from the union with England, the embers of an even older Scottish alliance are being revived: "The Auld Alliance" with the French.

Recently, there has been a flurry of behind-the-scenes agreements between the two former kingdoms, who for centuries allied over shared hostility toward England. Delegations and ministers have travelled between Edinburgh and Paris to sign pacts in cooperation in energy, education, culture and the arts.

Could the cultural and military alliance — which allowed Mary Queen of Scots to reign over France in the 1500s, had Scots fight with Joan of Arc against the English, and allowed Scotland to buy the fine Claret wine still enjoyed today — be regaining life?

"There is a great deal of affection in the Scots for the French, based on an understanding of our historical links. Also the Scottish kings had French wives for political reasons," said Fiona Hyslop, Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, who was in Paris in December to sign with France's culture minister an agreement to collaborate in culture.

"In outlook, Scotland is far more like our European counterparts. ... It's the UK that's the anomaly," she said, adding that work to forge common agreements in energy and education will be boosted if Scottish voters say "yes" to independence in Thursday's referendum.

Old friends France and Scotland owe each other a great deal. "The Auld Alliance" dates to 1295 — and right up to 1830, Scottish officers formed the French royal bodyguard. Not only did the royal families intermarry, but the two cultures shared a passion for drink, food and textiles that continues to this day.

"Clearly the French have their champagne, we have our Scotch whisky. ... We are countries which produce quality products. We both have the synergy in understanding the finer and better aspects of quality of life," said Hyslop.

Paris, the capital of the luxury industry, even looks to Scotland for fashion know-how. Chanel paid homage to Scotland's impact on France's prized fashion industry recently by buying a Scottish textile company and hosting a fashion show in Linlithgow Palace, the former residence of the Stuarts and Queen Mary's birthplace.

But not all the French remember the "Auld Alliance" through such rose-tinted glasses. "An independent Scotland would be a strong shock," said Philippe Moreau-Defarges, expert on self-determination at the French Institute of International Relations.

"Yes, France and Scottish relations go back to medieval times. But the first employer of the French today is London. If we have to choose, don't be fooled: France will go in the direction of London."

Poland tests border protection in major exercise

September 24, 2014

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland launched a major military exercise with international allies on Wednesday to test joint response to security threats at a time of armed conflict in neighboring Ukraine.

Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said the original plan for the biannual Anakonda exercise was to involve only Polish command officers. But because of the Ukraine-Russia crisis and general fears that the conflict could spread to bordering countries, he decided it should have wider participation and should test collective defense readiness in accordance with NATO guidelines.

The Anakonda-14 exercise involves 12,500 troops, including about 750 from the U.S., Canada, Britain, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Hungary, as well as Lithuania and Estonia, which border Russia.

"Poland's biggest military exercise, Anakonda, has acquired special significance due to the events in Ukraine," Siemoniak said during the opening ceremony at the National Defense Academy. "This is the first exercise on this scale since the conflict began" in mid-April, Siemoniak said.

Many Poles and people in Baltic countries are nervous that Russian aggression could spread beyond Ukraine. Despite a Sept. 5 cease-fire agreement between Ukraine and pro-Russia rebels, shelling continues in areas of Donetsk, an eastern Ukrainian city.

The scenario for the 10-day exercise calls for the protection of borders and will be held at four test ranges in northern Poland and on the Baltic Sea. The exercise will use some 120 armored vehicles, more than 50 anti-aircraft units, and 15 missile launchers. A submarine and a missile frigate will be among the 17 warships training in the Baltic, while the air force will use 25 aircraft, including F-126 fighters, helicopters and Hercules transport planes.

New Polish govt loses some foreign policy heft

September 22, 2014

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's last government was a strong voice internationally on Ukraine, supporting Kiev's pro-Western reforms and calling for sanctions on Russia to punish it for its aggression there.

But with a new government sworn in Monday, the two leading figures of Polish foreign policy — Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski — are gone and their replacements lack the same stature and experience.

And with only one year in office before the next election, Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz and Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna will have little time to build the strong profiles of their predecessors. Poland's weakened foreign policy leadership comes at a critical time, with conflict in neighboring Ukraine rattling many in a region that only threw off Moscow's control starting in 1989. Under Sikorski and Tusk, Warsaw lobbied for sanctions on Russia and also for NATO to do more to protect Poland and the Baltic states, the countries that feel most vulnerable to Russia's new expansionism.

"(Diplomats) are all afraid that under Schetyna, Poland's voice will be weaker," said Wojciech Szacki, an analyst with Polityka Insight, a Warsaw-based center for policy analysis. "It is unavoidable because Sikorski was the foreign minister for seven years. He knew everyone in Europe and had contacts around the world. Schetyna doesn't know anyone and only has a year to learn."

Kopacz also didn't win much confidence with one of her first foreign policy comments. Asked Friday if she would send arms to Ukraine, she replied that Poland should act like a "reasonable Polish woman" and focus on protecting home and hearth — a comment met with widespread ridicule.

"You know, I am a woman," she said. "I imagine what I would do if a man suddenly showed up on the street brandishing a sharp tool or a gun. My first thought: behind me is my home and my children. So I would rush into the house and close the doors and take care of my children."

Critics say the response shows weakness and the lack of a clear policy on the Russia-Ukraine issue. "It's hard to figure out the meaning of this gibberish on the most strategically important issue for Poland," wrote commentator Lukasz Warzecha.

Marcin Zaborowski, director of the Polish Institute of International Affairs, said Kopacz's comments don't necessarily indicate weakness toward Russia and must be understood in the context of recent concessions Ukraine made to Moscow.

Ukraine last week granted temporary self-rule to pro-Russian regions in the east and postponed the full implementation of its association agreement with the European Union. "This is not the end of Poland's engagement on the issue," Zaborowski said. "That is not possible because of where we are. Poland has always been engaged on Ukraine."

Questions also surround Schetyna, who has little foreign policy experience except for his recent stint as head of the parliamentary commission on foreign affairs. Even his mother was quoted by the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper as saying her son feels Sikorski was the better person for the job.

"(This will be a) great challenge, especially with the difficult international situation on our eastern border," Schetyna said Monday as he entered the foreign ministry to take up his new job. Some continuity on the topic of Ukraine is provided by Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak, who was also named deputy prime minister. In contrast to Kopacz's comments, he said Monday that Poland is willing to sell weapons to Ukraine and that Ukrainians are now learning what Polish arms dealers can offer them.

Polish gov't to be named Monday, sworn in Sept. 22

September 12, 2014

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The Polish president's office says he plans to appoint parliament speaker Ewa Kopacz as the new prime minister on Monday and that he will swear in her new government Sept. 22.

Kopacz is to succeed Donald Tusk, who resigned as prime minster after being elected to head the European Council, an unprecedented leadership role at the European Union for an Eastern European. President Bronislaw Komorowski met Friday morning with Kopacz, who is in the process of building the government. The biggest question centers on the fate of Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, who has been a prominent voice on the conflict in Ukraine. Neither Sikorski nor Kopacz would reveal details of the new team on Friday.

There is speculation that Sikorski could become the new parliament speaker.

Official: New Polish prime minister this month

September 02, 2014

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's government spokeswoman says a new prime minister should be appointed before the end of the month to replace Donald Tusk who will take office as the European Council's president in December.

Tusk, a 57-year-old historian, has been democratic Poland's longest-serving prime minister since 2007, with one year to go in his second term. But he needs to resign with his entire Cabinet to take one of the top EU offices, which he was unanimously given at an EU summit last weekend.

Spokeswoman Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska said Tuesday that Poland should have a new prime minister "before the end of September." This means the new Cabinet should be in place in October. Parliamentary Speaker Ewa Kopacz and Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak are mentioned as Tusk's possible successors.

Poland's PM: Ukraine's war must be stopped now

September 01, 2014

GDANSK, Poland (AP) — The outbreak of World War II 75 years ago shows why Europe must put an end to the war in Ukraine now, Poland's prime minister said Monday.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk, chosen by EU leaders to be the next president of the European Council, spoke at the Westerplatte peninsula on the Baltic coast, where some of the first shots of World War II were fired on Sept.1, 1939, by the Nazi warship Schleswig-Holstein. Two weeks later Soviet troops invaded from the east, acting on a Moscow deal with Germany to carve up Poland.

More than five years of brutal, global war followed, taking the lives of almost 60 million people. "Today, looking at the tragedy of Ukraine at war — because we should use this word — in the east of our continent, we know that September 1939 must not be repeated," Tusk said.

He said the lesson that Europe should draw from its past "must not be a lesson of naive optimism" because the continent's security requires "courage, imagination and resolute action." Europe's security is the top priority for a NATO summit Thursday in Wales. Mindful of their painful history, Poland and the Baltic nations are calling for a sizeable, permanent presence of NATO troops on their territory, a goal that may prove hard to achieve.

"There is still time to stop all those in Europe and in the world for whom violence, force, aggression are again becoming an arsenal of political activity," Tusk said. German President Joachim Gauck, also speaking at Westerplatte, called for the 28-nation European Union to "stand together."

"Stability and peace on our continent are in danger again," Gauck said. "We will oppose those who break international law, annex foreign territory and provide military support to breakaway movements in foreign countries."

His comments were a clear reference to Russia's actions in eastern Ukraine.