Crimea votes to join Russia, accelerating Ukraine crisis By Alissa de Carbonnel and Luke Baker SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine/BRUSSELS Thu Mar 6, 2014 4:08pm EST 90 Comments inShare.25 Share this Email Print A man holds a Soviet Union flag as he attends a pro-Russian rally at the Crimean parliament building in Simferopol March 6, 2014. REUTERS-David Mdzinarishvili Members of Crimean self-defense units and Interior Ministry members detain a topless activist from Ukrainian feminist group Femen taking part in an anti-war protest near the Crimean parliament building in Simferopol March 6, 2014. REUTERS-David Mdzinarishvili Military vehicles, believed to be properties of Russia, drive near a Ukrainian military base in the village of Perevalnoye, outside Simferopol, March 6, 2014. REUTERS-Vasily Fedosenko 1 of 24. A man holds a Soviet Union flag as he attends a pro-Russian rally at the Crimean parliament building in Simferopol March 6, 2014. Credit: Reuters/David Mdzinarishvili Related Video Video Crimean parliament votes to join Russia Video Kerry, Lavrov and EU ministers pose for group photo in Rome Factbox Ukrainians whose assets will be frozen by Britain Related News Obama warns on Crimea, orders sanctions over Russian move in Ukraine With Crimean appeal, Putin goes head-to-head with West over Ukraine Ukraines Tymoshenko calls for tough action from west on Crimea NATO urges Russia to pull back troops in Crimea, will stand by Ukraine Ukrainian flag again flies over Donetsk regional HQ EU sets out three steps to pressure Russia over Ukraine U.S. senator launches bill to go slow on LNG exports despite Ukraine Related Topics World » Russia » (Reuters) - Crimeas parliament voted to join Russia on Thursday and its Moscow-backed government set a referendum on the decision in 10 days time in a dramatic escalation of the crisis over the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula. U.S. President Barack Obama led European Union and Ukrainian criticism of the proposed vote, saying it would violate international law. The sudden acceleration of moves to bring Crimea, which has an ethnic Russian majority and has effectively been seized by Russian forces, formally under Moscows rule came as European Union leaders held an emergency summit groping for ways to pressure Russia to back down and accept mediation. The 28-nation EU condemned Russian actions in Crimea as illegal, voiced support for Ukraines territorial integrity but took only minor steps suspending talks with Moscow on visas and a new investment pact while warning of tougher steps if there is no negotiated solution within a short period. In a signal to Moscow, Obama announced plans to punish Russians and Ukrainians involved in what he called threatening the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, ordering the freezing of their U.S. assets and a ban on travel to the United States. A U.S. official said Russian President Vladimir Putin was not on the list. The proposed referendum on the future of Crimea would violate the Ukrainian constitution and violate international law, Obama told reporters at the White House. Any discussion about the future of Ukraine must include the legitimate government of Ukraine, he said. After talks in Rome, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was personally delivering proposals to Putin to end the crisis in Ukraine. We have agreed to stay in close touch in order to see if there is a way forward to try to get to a negotiating table to get the parties necessary to be able to stabilize this. Kerry said. Kerry said the executive order on sanctions signed by Obama on Thursday provided a legal framework for imposing sanctions but also left open the door for dialogue over Ukraine. The Pentagon meanwhile announced a large-scale air force exercise in Poland which Washingtons ambassador to Warsaw said had been augmented to reassure U.S. allies in the region in the light of the Ukraine crisis. The crisis began in November when Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, under Russian pressure, turned his back on a trade deal with the EU and accepted a $15 billion bailout from Moscow. That prompted three months of street protests leading to the overthrow of Yanukovich on February 22. Moscow denounced the events as an illegitimate coup and refused to recognize the new Ukrainian authorities. STAKES RAISED The Crimean parliament voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to enter into the Russian Federation with the rights of a subject of the Russian Federation. The decision, which diplomats said could not have been made without Putins approval, raised the stakes in the most serious east-west confrontation since the end of the Cold War. The vice premier of Crimea, home to Russias Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, said a referendum on the status would take place on March 16. All state property would be nationalized, the Russian ruble adopted and Ukrainian troops treated as occupiers and forced to surrender or leave, he said. Russian stocks fell and the ruble weakened further after the referendum news. Moodys ratings agency said the stand-off was negative for Russias sovereign creditworthiness. On the ground, a mission of 35 unarmed military observers from the pan-European Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe was stopped from entering Crimea by unidentified men in military fatigues when they travelled from the port of Odessa, Polands defense minister said. In Brussels, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy outlined a three stage plan to try to resolve the crisis, while announcing that the EU would sign the political parts of an far reaching agreement with Ukraine before May 25 elections there, and offer the country extensive aid and trade benefits. Unless Moscow opens negotiations with Ukraine and an international contact group soon, the EU would move to travel bans and asset freezes on Russian officials, and boycott a planned June Group of Eight summit in Olympic venue Sochi. If Russia took action that destabilizes Ukraine further, there would be grave consequences for bilateral economic ties, he said, without giving any deadlines. Polands prime minister said the EU talks on sanctions had been stormy, hinting at frustration at his inability to achieve stronger measures, which require a unanimous decision of 28 member states. MILITARY ACTION Putin has cited threats to Russian citizens to justify military action in Ukraine, as he did in Georgia in 2008. Far from seeking a diplomatic way out of the present crisis, Putin appears to have chosen to create facts on the ground before the West can agree on more than token action against him. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said after meeting EU leaders that Ukraines armed forces would act if Russian military intervention escalated any further into Ukrainian territory. We are ready to protect our country, he said. Military experts say Kievs small and underequipped forces are no match for Moscows superpower might. The U.S. Navy announced a guided-missile destroyer, the USS Truxton, was heading to the Black Sea in what it said was a long-planned training exercise and not a show of force The EU said it had frozen the assets of ousted Ukrainian president Yanukovich and 17 other officials suspected of human rights violations and misuse of state funds. International police agency Interpol said it was reviewing a request by Ukrainian authorities for it to issue a red notice for the arrest of Yanukovich on charges including abuse of power and murder. As expected, the EU summit was unwilling to adopt more than symbolic measures against Russia, Europes biggest gas supplier, because neither industrial powerhouse Germany nor financial center Britain is keen to trigger a tit-for-tat trade war. France has a deal to sell warships to Russia that it is so far not prepared to cancel, Londons banks have profited from facilitating Russian investment, and German companies have $22 billion invested in Russia. The European Commission has announced aid of up to 11 billion euros ($15 billion) for Ukraine over the next couple of years provided it reaches a deal with the International Monetary Fund, entailing painful reforms like ending gas subsidies. European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi said the crisis had already had a major impact on the Russian and Ukrainian economies, but little effect so far on the euro zone. Russia kept the door ajar for more diplomacy on its own terms, announcing on Thursday a meeting of former Soviet states, including Ukraine, for April 4. Lavrov said attempts by Western countries to take action over the Ukraine crisis via democracy watchdog OSCE and the NATO military alliance were not helpful. He stuck to Putins line - ridiculed by the West - that Moscow does not command the troops without national insignia which have taken control of Crimea, besieging Ukrainian forces, and hence cannot order them back to barracks. (Additional reporting by Luke Baker in Brussels, Elizabeth Piper, Lidia Kelly and Gabriela Baczynska in Moscow, Tim Heritage in Kiev, John Irish and Lesley Wroughton in Paris; Writing by Paul Taylor; editing by Anna Willard and Giles Elgood) FILED UNDER:
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 21:11:53 +0000
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