March 18, 2014 8:02AM ET Updated 10:21AM ET
Russian president: ‘In our hearts we know Crimea has always been an inalienable part of Russia’
President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed a treaty to incorporate Crimea into Russia after fiercely defending the move in a televised address to the nation, saying the new Ukrainian government threatens the rights of ethnic Russians in Crimea and accusing the West of showing "primitive, surprising cynicism" on the issue.
"In our hearts we know Crimea has always been an inalienable part of Russia," Putin said in the address, delivered in parliament.
The treaty has to be endorsed by Russia's Constitutional Court and ratified by both houses of parliament before it takes effect, but those steps are considered mere formalities, and approval was expected within hours.
Shortly after Putin signed the treaty, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said that "armed masked men" killed a Ukrainian serviceman at a military facility in the Crimean capital, Simferopol, Interfax news agency reported.
"Today Russian soldiers began shooting at Ukrainian servicemen," said Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. "This is a war crime."
Putin said Crimea's referendum vote Sunday to secede from Ukraine and join Russia was in line with international law, reflecting the region’s right to self-determination.
To back up his case, Putin pointed to Kosovo's 2008 independence move from Serbia — which was supported by the West and opposed by Russia — and said that Crimea's split from Ukraine is like Ukraine's secession from the Soviet Union in 1991. Throughout his speech, Putin lambasted the West, accusing it of holding double standards on Crimean separatism.
"Kosovo is not a violation of international law, so Crimea isn't," he said. "If the Albanians can do it in Kosovo, why is it forbidden to Crimeans and Crimean Tatars? How can we understand our foreign colleagues? Why is this exception given to them?" Tatars are an ethnic minority in Crimea.
"It is not just double standards. It is primitive, surprising cynicism," he said. “You cannot change everything according to your own interests."
At the end of his speech, Putin welcomed the "Republic of Crimea" and the "city of Sevastopol" as new members of the Russian Federation, drawing a standing ovation. Shortly afterward, he signed documents on the annexation of the peninsula alongside Crimean leaders, with the Russian national anthem playing in the background.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said it does not recognize the treaty, which would make Crimea a part of the Russian Federation.
Western reaction to the Russian move was immediate. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who was visiting Poland, condemned Russia's actions as "nothing more than a land grab." He said the international community rejected Russia's moves as a continuing assault on Ukraine's sovereignty, adding that this would be punished by more sanctions.
Biden underscored NATO's focus on the Crimean crisis, encouraging the transatlantic alliance to update its contingency planning on Ukraine and reiterating his commitment to building a missile defense system in Poland by 2018.
Polish Prime Minster Donald Tusk said the international community could not accept Russia's annexation of Crimea.
British Foreign Minister William Hague said that all military cooperation with Russia has been suspended and that there is a grave danger that provocation elsewhere in Ukraine could be used as a Russian pretext for further military escalation.
Putin denied Western accusations that Russia invaded Crimea ahead of the referendum, saying Russian personnel were sent there in line with an existing treaty with Ukraine that allows Russia to have up to 25,000 troops at its Black Sea Fleet base in Sevastopol.
Crimeans voted overwhelmingly to secede from Ukraine and seek to join Russia. The hastily called vote was held two weeks after Russian troops effectively took control of the region. The West and Ukraine described the referendum as illegitimate.
The United States and the European Union on Monday announced asset freezes and other sanctions against Russian and Ukrainian officials involved in the Crimean crisis. U.S. President Barack Obama warned that more would come if Russia didn't stop interfering in Ukraine.
France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Europe-1 radio on Tuesday that leaders of the Group of Eight world powers had "decided to suspend Russia's participation, and it is envisaged that all the other countries, the seven leading countries, will unite without Russia."
The other seven members of the group had already suspended preparations for a G-8 summit that Russia had been scheduled to host in June in Sochi.
Al Jazeera and wire services
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/3/18/putin-signs-draftlawforcrimeanannexationblastswest.html
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