Key Developments 

• The IMF agreed to $14-$18 billion in loans to Ukraine . Subject to approval at April’s IMF  board meeting, the two-year package offers financial support to prevent a Ukrainian default, in exchange for reforms that will unlock additional bilateral and multilateral assistance, totaling up to $27 billion. The roadmap for reform includes:
   
  • An end to subsidized gas, with a 79 percent price increase as of April 1, and the removal of all energy subsidies by 2016.
     
  • A flexible exchange rate, replacing Ukraine’s current currency peg, as well as fiscal reforms to lower the national deficit.
     
  • New anti-corruption legislation.
     
• The U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution declaring that Crimea's annexation referendum is invalid. It affirms Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and calls upon states, international organizations  and agencies not to recognize any change in Crimea’s status. The vote was 100 in favor and 11 opposed, with 58 abstentions. The General Assembly resolution is not legally-binding.
   
• A package that combines Ukrainian aid and Russian sanctions passed both the House and Senate, clearing the way for White House approval.
   
• Yulia Tymoshenko, former Ukrainian Prime Minister, announced that she will run for president in May’s election. As the leader of Ukraine’s “Fatherland” party,  Tymoshenko was released from jail following the ouster of former President Victor Yanukovych. In a press conference announcing her candidacy, Tymoshenko declared President Putin as Ukraine’s “number one enemy.”
   
• In order to sidestep U.S. sanctions, President Putin announced that Russia will develop a new payment network, allowing its citizens to bypass U.S.-based systems.

Government Statements

“Full Transcript: President Obama Gives Speech Addressing Europe, Russia on March 26,” The Washington Post, 26 March 2014

News and Analysis

Ian Bremmer, “A Tortured Policy Toward Russia” (Op-Ed), The New York Times, 26 March 2014

Natalia Zinets, “IMF Throws Ukraine Financial Lifeline, Russian Economy to Slump,” Reuters, 27 March 2014

Rumer et al, “What are the Global Implications of the Ukraine Crisis?” (Q&A), Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 27 March 2014

Robert Kahn, “Ukraine and IMF: Step Forward Now,” Council on Foreign Relations, 27 March 2014

The Economist, “America and the IMF: Dereliction of Duty,” The Economist, 29 March 2014 (print edition)

Ian Wallace, “Ukraine Crisis, Target Breach and Edward Snowden: What’s Next for U.S. Cyber Policy?” Brookings, 25 March 2014

James Surowiecki, “Putin’s Power Play,” The New Yorker, 24 March 2014