Crimea Annexation: Putin Signs Treaty Making Region Part Of Russia
By Vladimir Soldatkin and Steve Gutterman
MOSCOW, March 18 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin, defying Ukrainian protests and Western sanctions, on Tuesday signed a treaty making Crimea part Russia but said he did not plan to seize any other regions of Ukraine.
In a fiercely patriotic address to a joint session of the Russian parliament in the Kremlin, punctuated by standing ovations, cheering and tears, Putin lambasted the West for what he called hypocrisy. Western nations had endorsed Kosovo’s independence from Serbia but now denied Crimeans the same right, he said.
“You cannot call the same thing black today and white tomorrow,” he declared to stormy applause, saying Western partners had “crossed the line” over Ukraine and behaved “irresponsibly”.
He said Ukraine’s new leaders, in power since the overthrow of pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovich last month, included “neo-Nazis, Russophobes and anti-Semites”.
Putin said Crimea’s disputed referendum vote on Sunday, held under Russian military occupation, had shown the overwhelming will of the people to be reunited with Russia after 60 years as part of the Ukrainian republic.
To the Russian national anthem, Putin and Crimean leaders signed a treaty on making Crimea part of Russia. During his address, Putin was interrupted by applause at least 30 times.
“In the hearts and minds of people, Crimea has always been and remains an inseparable part of Russia,” Putin said.
He thanked China for what he called its support, even though Beijing abstained on a U.N. resolution on Crimea that Moscow had to veto on its own, and said he was sure Germans would support the Russian people’s quest for reunification, just as Russia had supported German reunification in 1990.
And he sought to reassure Ukrainians that Russia did not seek any further division of their country. Fears have been expressed in Kyiv that Russia might move on the Russian-speaking eastern parts of Ukraine.
“Don’t believe those who try to frighten you with Russia and who scream that other regions will follow after Crimea,” Putin said. “We do not want a partition of Ukraine. We do not need this.”
Setting out Moscow’s view of the events that led to the overthrow of Yanukovich in a popular uprising last month, Putin said the “so-called authorities” in Kyiv had stolen power in a coup and opened the way for extremists who would stop at nothing.
Making clear Russia’s concern at the possibility of the U.S.-led NATO military alliance expanding into Ukraine, he declared: “I do not want to be welcomed in Sevastopol (Crimean home of Russia’s Black Sea fleet) by NATO sailors.”
Moscow’s seizure of Crimea, denounced by the West as illegal and in breach of Ukraine’s constitutions, has caused the most serious East-West crisis since the end of the Cold War.
Before Putin’s speech, Ukraine’s interim prime minister, Arseniy Yatseniuk, sought to reassure Moscow on two key areas of concern, saying in a televised address delivered in Russian that Kyiv was not seeking to join NATO, the U.S.-led military alliance, and would act to disarm Ukrainian nationalist militias.
MILD SANCTIONS
On Monday, the United States and the European Union imposed personal sanctions on a handful of officials from Russia and Ukraine accused of involvement in Moscow’s military seizure of the Black Sea peninsula, most of whose 2 million residents are ethnic Russians.
Russian politicians dismissed the sanctions as insignificant and a badge of honour. The State Duma, or lower house, adopted a statement urging Washington and Brussels to extend the visa ban and asset freeze to all its members.
Japan joined the mild Western sanctions on Tuesday, announcing the suspension of talks with Russia on investment promotion and visa liberalisation.
Russian forces took control of Crimea in late February following the toppling of Yanukovich after deadly clashes between riot police and protesters trying to overturn his decision to spurn a trade and cooperation deal with the EU and seek closer ties with Russia.
Despite strongly worded condemnations of the Crimean referendum, Western nations were cautious in their first practical steps against Moscow, seeking to leave the door open for a diplomatic solution.
Russian stocks gained another 2 percent after rallying strongly on Monday as investors noted the initial sanctions did not target businesses or executives. But the rouble fell 0.6 percent against the dollar and the euro.
In a sign of the negative impact of the crisis on the investment climate, Russia’s state property agency said it may postpone major privatisation deals until the second half of the year.
U.S. President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on 11 Russians and Ukrainians blamed for the military seizure of Crimea, including Yanukovich, and two aides to Putin.
Putin himself, suspected in the West of trying to resurrect as much as possible of the former Soviet Union under Russian leadership, was not on the blacklist.
EU foreign ministers agreed to subject 21 Russian and Ukrainian officials to visa restrictions and asset freezes.
The U.S. list targeted higher-profile Russian officials close to Putin while the EU went for mid-ranking officials and military commanders more directly involved on the ground.
Washington and Brussels said more measures could follow in the coming days if Russia formally annexes Crimea.
The EU also said its leaders would sign the political part of an association agreement with Ukraine on Friday, in a gesture of support for the fragile coalition in Kyiv.
Highlighting rifts in the EU, member state Austria offered on Tuesday to mediate between Moscow and the West.
MOSCOW TIME
Putin has declared that Russia has the right to defend, by military force if necessary, Russian citizens and Russian speakers living in former Soviet republics, raising concerns that Moscow may intervene elsewhere.
Putin has repeatedly accused the new leadership in Kyiv of failing to protect Russian-speakers from violent Ukrainian nationalists. Ukraine’s government has accused Moscow of staging provocations in Russian-speaking regions of eastern Ukraine to justify military intervention.
In a symbolic gesture, Askyonov announced on Twitter that Crimea would switch to Moscow time from March 30, putting it two hours ahead of the rest of Ukraine.
In the Crimean capital Simferopol, the local government and businesses set about preparing for the switch to Russian rule.
Banks scrambled to introduce the rouble as an official currency alongside the Ukrainian hryvnia, although the switch could take place at the end of the month after March pensions and salaries are cleared, banking sources said.
The pan-European Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe cancelled a meeting to discuss sending a monitoring mission to Ukraine because the 57 members are deadlocked.
France’s foreign minister says that leaders of the Group of Eight world powers have suspended Russia’s participation in the club amid tensions over Ukraine and Russia’s incursion into Crimea.
The other seven members of the group had already suspended preparations for a G-8 summit that Russia is scheduled to host in June in Sochi.
France’s Laurent Fabius went further Tuesday, saying on Europe-1 radio that “concerning the G-8 … we decided to suspend Russia’s participation, and it is envisaged that all the other countries, the seven leading countries, will unite without Russia.”
— Eline Gordts
BREAKING: Putin: West has cheated Russia, crossed the line on Ukraine.
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 18, 2014
Putin: “When Crimea wound up in another state, Russians thought they’d not just been stolen, but robbed”
— max seddon (@maxseddon) March 18, 2014
Russian President Vladimir Putin is addressing Russia’s parliament. Here is a live feed of it on Russia Today.
–Luke Johnson
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk gave a televised address Tuesday in Russian, seeking to assure speakers of the language.
“Association with NATO is not on the agenda,” he said. “Despite the armed aggression of Russia against Ukraine, I will do everything possible not only to keep the peace but also to build a genuine partnership with Russia and good neighbor relations.”
Many Ukrainians speak Russian, and it is predominant in the South and East of the country.
–Luke Johnson
Crimea’s deputy prime minister announced on Tuesday that the region plans to adopt the Russian ruble as its official currency, RTE reported.
The region, which declared itself independent from Ukraine yesterday, will drop the hyrvnia in April.
For more, click here.
A few people walk through a nearly empty Lenin Square in central Simferopol on March 17, 2014. Crimea declared independence today and applied to join Russia while the Kremlin braced for sanctions after the flashpoint peninsula voted to leave Ukraine in a ballot that has fanned the worst East-West tensions since the Cold War. (FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images)
Philipp Missfelder, foreign policy spokesperson for German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government, told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour his country could function if Russia were to cut off its gas supplies to the European economic dynamo.
“If the Russians would stop the gas supply for us, or we would raise sanctions on the oil and gas sector, we will be able to have in the interconnected and linked European energy market – of course with higher prices – the energy supply for Germany,” Missfelder said.
Read the entire report here.
— Ryan Craggs
Ukraine will sign a deal for closer political association with the European Union on Friday, according to a statement from E.U. foreign ministers.
The political provisions are part of an E.U. association agreement rejected by former President Viktor Yanukovych in November, sparking months of protests that preceded his downfall.
Reuters reports the economic and trade cooperation portion of the association agreement will be addressed after Ukraine’s presidential elections, scheduled for May 25.
Find the full statement here.
— Charlotte Alfred
The Daily Beast reports Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to fire back at the United States with sanctions targeting U.S. officials. The Russian sanctions come in response to U.S. President Barack Obama’s announcement Monday the U.S. was imposing sanctions on high-level Russian officials and fugitive Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. More from The Daily Beast:
Putin is expected to release his retaliation list as early as Tuesday and while the final list is still being crafted, it will include top Obama administration officials and high profile U.S. senators, in an effort to roughly mirror the U.S. sanctions against Russian officials and lawmakers, according to diplomatic sources. At the top of the list in Congress is Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, who recently co-authored a resolution criticizing Russia’s invasion of Crimea.
Read the full text here.
— Ryan Craggs
According to The New Republic’s Julia Ioffe, Putin’s declaration of Crimea as an independent state doesn’t mean any one thing, for now.
The way Ioffe sees it, Crimea faces two options: A replay of the 2008 land dispute over Abkhazia between Russia and Georgia, or annexation by Russia. But, as Ioffe writes:
What we know now is that we know nothing now. Putin, as always, is moving slowly, but deliberately, carefully leaving his options open while testing the waters of international response. He may decide to keep Crimea as a vassal state stuck in the limbo of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, or he may move to make it another republic inside the Russian Federation.
Read the full article on The New Republic.
— Ryan Craggs
The White House said on Monday the United States was reviewing Ukrainian requests for military aid but insisted that Washington for now was limiting its assistance to economic support as it seeks a diplomatic path with Russia.”We’re reviewing requests by the Ukrainian government and military,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. “Our focus is on steps that Russia can take to de-escalate.”
— Charlotte Alfred
Reuters reports Ukraine has begun digging a defensive trench in the region of Donetsk, near the country’s border with Russia.
The trench includes concrete barriers, according to governor Sergei Taruta, and is intended to restore order in the aftermath of Russia’s takeover in Crimea. Like all regional leaders, Taruta was appointed by Ukraine’s central government.
“Our border is not a castle. But it is equipped so that vehicles cannot cross it in either direction,” Taruta said. “This is not based on one or another scenario, but rather intended to maintain a solid border.”
Read the full report here.
— Ryan Craggs
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree making Crimea a “sovereign and independent” state Monday. It was not immediately clear whether the 37-word decree, which takes effect immediately, was a precursor to annexation or a shift in strategy to make Crimea an independent country.
–Luke Johnson
A couple hold a Russian flag outside the Crimean parliament building in central Simferopol on March 17, 2014. (DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP/Getty Images)
Click here for more photos of celebrations in Crimea.