Rally in pro-Russian region of Crimea decries the ‘bandits’ in Kyiv forming new …
He also declared that Yanukovych remains the only legitimate leader of Ukraine, adding there is a “big question mark” over the legitimacy of the decisions made by the Ukrainian parliament since he left the seat of power.
Slutsky’s statements followed more cautious remarks by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who said that Moscow has no intention of interfering in Ukraine’s domestic affairs but also warned the West against trying to turn the situation there to its advantage.
Lavrov also criticized the new authorities who assumed control after Yanukovych fled, accusing them of failure to rein in radical groups.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in Washington that their countries oppose any attempt to partition or divide the former Soviet republic into pro-Western and pro-Russian territories.
Ukraine’s interim leader, Oleksandr Turchinov, met with top security officials Tuesday to discuss the tensions in Crimea and elsewhere.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also summoned his top security officials Tuesday to discuss Ukraine, but no details were released.
Some in the Crimea have voiced fears that radical nationalists, who played a prominent role in the changes in Kyiv, could punish pro-Russian regions.
Crimean residents have begun forming volunteer units. About 5,000 people have joined up in Sevastopol and another 1,700 in Simferopol.
Local officials, however, have avoided challenging the central authorities in Kyiv, who made it clear they would immediately prosecute those responsible for any separatist statements and actions.
“The interests of the Crimea and people’s security are now the priorities for us,” said Anatoliy Mohilev, head of the Crimean regional government.
After the head of the Sevastopol City Council stepped down, a rally in the city named local businessman and Russian citizen Alexei Chalyi as the new city mayor, but he has kept a low profile. “It’s necessary to calm passions,” Chalyi said.
Many in Russia have been dreaming about regaining the lush peninsula, which was conquered by Russia in the 18th century under Catherine the Great. Crimea only became part of Ukraine in 1954 when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev transferred jurisdiction from Russia. The move was a formality until the 1991 Soviet collapse meant Crimea landed in an independent Ukraine.
Ethnic Russians make up the majority of Crimea’s population, and some, including retired navy officers and their families, have Russian citizenship. The peninsula’s nearly 2 million people includes 60 per cent Russian speakers, as well as 12 per cent who are Crimean Tatars, a minority group deported and persecuted in Soviet times, leaving them with little love for Russia. Refat Chubarov, the head of the Tatar community, says the Tatars want new elections to the regional parliament and to remove any monuments to Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin.
At the Ukrainian parliament in Kyiv, lawmakers delayed the formation of a new government until Thursday, reflecting the political and economic challenges the country faces after Yanukovych went into hiding.
Turchinov, the parliament speaker, is now nominally in charge of this strategic country of 46 million whose ailing economy faces a possible default and whose loyalties are sharply torn between Europe and longtime ruler Russia.