Crimean pro-Russian forces seized two naval bases on Wednesday
Crimean pro-Russian forces seized two naval bases on Wednesday
Ukraine crisis
European Union leaders are gathering in Brussels to discuss their response to the crisis over Crimea.
The British Prime Minister David Cameron said more names
would be added to the list of those facing travel bans and asset
freezes.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU would be ready to
impose economic sanctions against Russia if there were an escalation.
Crimea remains tense after its leaders signed a treaty to join it to Russia.
French President Francois Hollande said a summit planned for
June between the EU and Russia would be cancelled. He described the
events of the past weeks as "unacceptable".
Mr Cameron said the countries of the European Union needed to speak with a clear and united voice.
Over dinner Europe's leaders will discuss their next moves. A
few more Russian names may be added to the sanctions hat. That is the
easy part. The names are already drawn up.
The question is whether, this time, they will go after people closer to President Putin. That is less certain.
The treaty signed by Crimean
leaders with Moscow on Tuesday absorbs the peninsula - an autonomous
republic in southern Ukraine - into Russia, following a referendum which
the West and Kiev say was illegal.
The treaty has now been approved by Russia's lower house of
parliament - the Duma - and is expected to be ratified by the upper
house on Friday.
Speaking ahead of the vote in the Duma, Russia's Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov described possible sanctions as "illegitimate"
and "not based on international law".
Mr Lavrov said the treaty with Crimea would "be a turning
point in the fate of the multi-ethnic peoples of Crimea and Russia, who
are linked by the close ties of historical solidarity".
He reiterated Moscow's position that the annexation is
necessary to protect ethnic Russians from "nationalists, anti-Semites
and other extremists on whom the new [Ukrainian] authorities depend".
In a resolution on Thursday, Ukraine's parliament said the
country would "never and under no circumstances end the fight to free
Crimea of occupants, no matter how difficult and long it is".
continue@.
http://ambassadorofdemocracytanzania.blogspot.com/
Over dinner Europe's leaders will discuss their next moves. A
few more Russian names may be added to the sanctions hat. That is the
easy part. The names are already drawn up.
The question is whether, this time, they will go after people closer to President Putin. That is less certain.
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