Kerry condemns Russian incursion into Ukraine

Ukraine’s new prime minister has urged Russian president Vladimir Putin to pull back his troops in the dispute between their two countries over Crimea, saying “we are on the brink of disaster”.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk spoke after a closed session of his new parliament in Kyiv, calling on Mr Putin to “pull back his military”.

A convoy of hundreds of Russian troops headed toward the capital of Ukraine’s Crimea region today, a day after Russia’s forces took over the strategic Black Sea peninsula without firing a shot.

US secretary of state John Kerry called Russia’s military incursion into Ukraine “an incredible act of aggression” and said Mr Putin has made “a stunning, wilful” choice to invade another country. Mr Kerry said Russia should respect the democratic process through which the Ukrainian people ousted their pro-Russian president and assembled a new government. He is raising the possibility of boycotting the June meeting of the Group of Eight leading industrialised countries in Sochi, Russia.

He is also discussing visa bans, asset freezes, and trade and investment penalties. Mr Kerry said he spoke to foreign ministers from the G8 and other nations yesterday, and that everyone is prepared “to go to the hilt” to isolate Russia.

Ethnic Russian forces have bloodlessly seized Crimea, an isolated Black Sea peninsula where most of the population are Russian and Moscow has a naval base, and sought to disarm the small Ukrainian contingents in the region.

Of potentially even greater concern are eastern swathes of the country, where most of the ethnic Ukrainians speak Russian as a native language.

Those areas saw violent protests yesterday, with pro-Moscow demonstrators hoisting flags at government buildings and calling for Russia to defend them.

Mr Putin’s declaration that he has the right to invade his neighbour – for which he quickly received the unanimous approval of his parliament – opened the prospect of war in a country of 46 million people on the ramparts of central Europe.

“President Obama expressed his deep concern over Russia’s clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, which is a breach of international law,” the White House said after the two leaders spoke for 90 minutes.

Mr Yatseniuk, leading a government that took power after Moscow ally Viktor Yanukovich fled a week ago, said Russian armed action “would be the beginning of war and the end of any relations between Ukraine and Russia”.

Acting president Oleksander Turchinov ordered troops to be placed on high combat alert and called up all military reserves. Ukrainians up to the age of 40 are considered of military age.