Russia demands return to unity agreement
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Russia pressed Ukrainian politicians yesterday to return to a February 21 agreement that promised a new unity government — with fugitive President Viktor Yanukovych back in power — would rule until an early election no later than December.
But the proposal seemed to be a non-starter as diplomats met in Brussels, Kiev and Geneva and warnings about the dangers of Russia’s military actions were issued from European capitals.
On the ground, Russian troops controlled all Ukrainian border posts in Crimea, as well as all military facilities and a key ferry terminal, cementing their stranglehold on the strategic Ukrainian Peninsula.
They also demanded that the crew of two Ukrainian warships immediately surrender or be stormed and seized, according to Maksim Prauta, the Ukrainian defense ministry spokesman.
Four Russian navy ships in Sevastopol’s harbor were blocking Ukraine’s anti-submarine warship Ternopil and the command ship Slavutych, waiting for their answers, he said.
Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, at UN meetings in Geneva, explained the reasoning behind Russia’s military invasion of Crimea.
“This is a question of defending our citizens and compatriots, ensuring human rights, especially the right to life,” the foreign minister said in Geneva, where he was attending UN meetings.
Tensions between Ukraine and Russia rose sharply after Yanukovych was pushed out by a protest movement made up of people who want closer ties with the European Union, more democracy and less corruption.
Yanukovych fled to Russia last month after more than 80 demonstrators were killed — mostly by police — near Kiev’s central square but insists he is still president.
In Kiev, Ukraine’s new prime minister admitted his country had “no military options on the table” to reverse Russia’s military move into its Crimea region, where Ukraine’s military admitted that pro-Russian troops have surrounded or taken over “practically all” its military facilities.
While Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk appealed for outside help and insisted Crimea remained part of his country, European foreign ministers held an emergency meeting on a joint response to Russia’s military move that could include economic sanctions.
“Crisis diplomacy is not a weakness, but it is now more important than ever for us not to fall into the abyss of a military escalation,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in Brussels.
In the meantime, Russian forces were clearly in charge in Crimea, home to 2 million mostly Russian-speaking people and landlord for Russia’s critical Black Sea Fleet at Sevastopol.
In addition to seizing barracks and border posts, troops also controlled a ferry terminal in the Ukrainian city of Kerch, just 20 kilometers across the water from Russia. That intensified fears in Kiev that Moscow will send even more troops into the peninsula via that route.
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