Moscow: Russia is prepared to annex Ukraine’s Crimea region, threatening the revival of the old Soviet empire. This is the signal Moscow sends, especially in the light of Putin’s statement that it is duty-bound to save the lives of Russians in Crimea.
Leaders of both houses of Russia’s Parliament said they would support a vote by Crimeans to break away from Ukraine and become a region of the Russian Federation, ignoring sanction threats and warnings, from the US and other countries. A vote for secession would violate Ukraine’s Constitution and international law.
As fresh tensions flared between Russian and Ukrainian forces in Crimea, the moves by Russia raised the spectre of a protracted conflict over the status of the region, which Russian forces occupied last weekend, calling into question not only Russia’s relations with the West but also post-Cold War agreements on the sovereignty of the nations that emerged from the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The referendum – barely a week away – has been denounced by the fledgling national government in Kiev, which said it would invalidate the outcome and dissolve the Crimean Parliament. President Barack Obama has also rejected the referendum, and the US government announced sanctions Thursday in response to Russia’s de facto military occupation.
The West, which has insisted that the Ukrainian people are entitled to decide their future without interference from Russia, faces similar challenges as it seeks to explain why the people of Crimea should not necessarily decide their own fate.
Â