Following up on an overwhelming majority backing such a move in the weekend referendum, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a treaty formally annexing Crimea back into the Russian Federation. The treaty is expected to be ratified by Russian parliament in days, and by a similarly overwhelming margin.
Putin says the move marks Crimea’s return to “home port.” Crimea has traditionally been a part of Russia and was for centuries the home of its navy. Putin added that his government doesn’t seek annexation of any other regions within Ukraine, and that Crimea was a special case because it “remains an inseparable part of Russia.”
Ukrainian interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk loudly condemned the move, saying it moves the dispute over Crimea “from a political to a military stage.” Ukrainian officials have been hyping the mobilization of the military and the preparation for war with Russia.
A clash was also reported at one of Ukraine’s remaining military bases within Crimea, where unidentified fighters with covered faces stormed the base, killing one Ukrainian soldier and wounding another. Yatsenyuk dubbed the incident a Russian “war crime,” though officials concede there was no proof the Russian military was actually behind the attack, and defectors to the new Crimean military have been paritcularly aggressive in confronting the remnants of Ukraine’s forces in the area.
At the same time, Ukraine’s interim government tried to tamp down concerns it was becoming a NATO proxy along the Russian border, with the Foreign Ministry pledging never to join NATO and saying they want to improve ties with Russia.
The Ukrainian soldiers at the military base should have been withdrawn to Ukraine proper many days ago by the Ukrainian government when it became obvious that a referendum would be held in Crimea and that the result of that referendum would undoubtedly mean the return of Crimea to the Russian Federation if not Russia proper. Keeping them on that base in the context of "we will never relinquish Crimea" was a serious mistake when the Ukrainian government had no means of defending/aiding them.
Ukrainian interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk? Ha, that is a joke. This guy is the illegitimate PM of Ukraine, the very same guy whom Victoria Nuland and Geoffry Pyatt were caught on a phone recording discussing about putting this guy Yats into power after they violently overthrow the elected govt.
I wish he were a joke. He is a front end of the neonazis, particularly a very large Svoboda (Freedom) Party that got a large number of deputies to the Parliament last year. Freedom Party was called National Socialist Party of Ukraine until two years ago, when they hired PR advisors to clean up the image, and it worked. Their fascist message was just bellow the surface, and voters were attracted. But nothing changed really. Oleh Tyanhibok, their leader, is still greating with Nazi-salute, and is going on with hate speaches against Jews and Russians, and "other scum" in this words. His party has the largest presence in the government, along with Yatsenyuk's Fatherland. The picture of Obama chatting with the white supremacist who speaks good English, is too much.
He just made a speech on Ukrainian TV, with sinister expression and promising "fire burning underneath the feet of traitors". As if he did not waltz into the government with a basefall bat, and divided various ministries among his buddies. All over Ukraine, various aministrators are just kicked out — physically, beaten and abused, being made walk on knees, and collect the broken glass they shattered. All filmed — but nowhere on any western media.
Survivor is right. Why would anyone care what “yats” says? He is no one.
Too bad about the death, though, whoever is responsible.
Survivor is right. Why would anyone care what “yats” says? He is no one.
Too bad about the death, though, whoever is responsible.
So Yats is finding out how interested DC is in his recently acquired subdivision shorn of its sea views.
Bianca….
That is EXACTLY what Russian state controlled media is saying about Ukraine! Do you have any other excerpts, or is this pretty much it?
The funny thing is…Ukranian Jewish community seems to be not lining up to leave Ukraine. And one would think that they would be most sensitive and concerned about the beginning of the new Holocaust.
Haaretz has a large section covering Ukraine, with only one article describing a few anti-semitic attacks (couple of assaults, a firebombing of a synagogue resulting in superficial damage and one serious stabbing) and the pledges by the acting president and prime minister to protect the Jews. I don't want to minimize these events, but these attacks would not be out of place in many "civilized" European countries, so Ukraine does not appear to be a center of the new Nazi party.
The deafening silence of "antiwar".com refusing to criticize military annexation of another country's territory is quite evident.
Let's hope Putin means it! Don't forget though that the present Ukrainian government is only an interim one until elections are held on 25 May. Thus, what it says and does (and, indeed, how it is composed) are really of no importance. It does not have the democratic legitimacy to commit Ukraine to anything definitive.