date:Mar 14, 2014
unced on Thursday it had started military exercises near the border with Ukraine and Interfax reported Moscow had sent six Su-27 jet fighters and three military transport planes to ally Belarus.
These moves were likely to be seen as a show of force in the standoff with Kiev and the West ahead of a referendum in Crimea on Sunday, when residents of the region will vote on whether to secede from Ukraine and join Russia.
Hitting UK mining stocks in late trade, Chinese banking and industry sources