Putin Recognizes Crimea Secession, Defying the West MOSCOW — - TopicsExpress



          

Putin Recognizes Crimea Secession, Defying the West MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia signed a decree on Monday formally recognizing Crimea as a “sovereign and independent state,” laying the groundwork for annexation and defying the United States and Europe just hours after they imposed their first financial sanctions against Moscow since the crisis in Ukraine began. Mr. Putin issued his late-night decree after the region declared independence earlier in the day and asked Russia to annex it in keeping with results of a referendum conducted Sunday under the watch of Russian troops. The Kremlin announced that Mr. Putin would address both houses of the Russian Parliament on Tuesday, when many expect him to endorse annexation. Lawmakers in Crimea Move Swiftly to Split From UkraineMARCH 17, 2014 Text: Obama’s Statement on New Sanctions Against RussiaMARCH 17, 2014 News Analysis: Global Crises Put Obama’s Strategy of Caution to the TestMARCH 16, 2014 Markets Worldwide Brush Off Crimea Vote MARCH 17, 2014 The Lede: Russia Could Still Turn U.S. ‘Into Radioactive Dust,’ News Anchor in Moscow Reminds ViewersMARCH 16, 2014 The moves indicated that Moscow remained undaunted by Western pressure in a clash of wills that has created the most profound rift in East-West relations since the end of the Cold War, and which threatens the redrawn borders created after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Every time the United States and Europe have tried to draw a line in recent weeks, Mr. Putin has vaulted past it. The White House indicated that it had held back going after some in Mr. Putin’s inner circle to have room for its next countermove. The sweep of the sanctions was viewed as relatively modest, but Mr. Obama signaled he may go further by signing an executive order authorizing future sanctions against Russia’s arms industry and the wealthy business figures who support Mr. Putin’s ruling clique. “We’re making it clear that there are consequences for their actions,” Mr. Obama said as he announced the sanctions. “We’ll continue to make clear to Russia that further provocations will achieve nothing except to further isolate Russia and diminish its place in the world.” Moscow moved to welcome back Crimea, which was part of Russia for much of the past few centuries, until the Kremlin transferred it to control of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic in 1954; it remained under Ukraine when that became a separate country in 1991. Every faction in the Russian Duma submitted draft legislation on Monday officially reversing that 60-year-old decision. The consensus in Moscow was so strong that even the last Soviet leader, Mikhail S. Gorbachev, whose role in the dissolution of the Soviet Union is deeply reviled in Russia, endorsed Crimea’s move, telling Interfax that its independence “should be welcomed and not met with the announcement of sanctions.” He added: “If until now Crimea had been joined to Ukraine because of Soviet laws that were taken without asking the people, then now the people have decided to rectify this error.” “In the United States, one man takes a decision on the basis of an executive order,” Mr. Sikorski said, “whereas in Europe, for these measures to be legal, we need a consensus of 28 member states.” Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said the sanctions were not imposed lightly. “We wanted talks and a diplomatic solution, but the clear violation of international law yesterday with the so-called referendum meant we had to take this step, and I am glad that Europe showed such unity,” she said. American officials made clear they will ratchet up the pressure if Mr. Putin does not back down. They went immediately back to the Situation Room after the announcement to begin work on a next round of sanctions that could come as early as this week. Mr. Obama’s new executive order expanded the scope of his authority to target three groups: Russian government officials, the Russian arms industry and Russians who work on behalf of government officials, the latter called “Russian government cronies” by a senior American official. While targeting a limited number of individuals at first, administration officials said the scope of the new order was broader than any aimed at Moscow in decades. “These are by far the most comprehensive sanctions applied to Russia since the end of the Cold War — far and away so,” said another senior official, who under the ground rules set by the administration was not identified. The bravado in Moscow struck some American officials as bluster masking real concern about the consequences of Russian actions, and there is some evidence that Russians are anxiously pulling tens of billions of dollars out of American accounts. Nearly $105 billion was shifted out of Treasury custodial accounts by foreign central banks or other institutions in the week ending last Wednesday, more than three times that of any other recent week. Mr. Obama held out hope that diplomacy may yet succeed, but he sent Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to Eastern Europe to meet with nervous NATO allies like Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and reassure them of American resolve. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steven Lee Myers reported from Moscow, and Peter Baker from Washington. Reporting was contributed by David M. Herszenhorn from Simferopol, Ukraine; Andrew Higgins from Brussels; Alan Cowell from London; Andrew E. Kramer from Kiev, Ukraine; and Alison Smale from Berlin.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 03:17:25 +0000

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