THE HAGUE/FEODOSIA – US President Barack Obama sought support from European allies and China on Monday to isolate Russia over its seizure of Crimea, and Ukraine told its remaining troops to leave the region after Russian forces overran one of Kiev’s last bases there. Obama, who has imposed tougher sanctions on Moscow than European leaders over its takeover of the Black Sea peninsula, will seek backing for his firm line at a meeting with other leaders of the G7 - a group of industrialised nations that excludes Russia, which joined in 1998 to form the G8. Since the emergency one-hour G7 meeting on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit in The Hague was announced last week, President Vladimir Putin has signed laws completing Russias annexation of the region. White House officials accompanying Obama expressed concern on Monday at what they said was a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine and warned that any further military intervention would trigger wider sanctions than the measures taken so far. In what has become the biggest East-West confrontation since the Cold War, the United States and the European Union have imposed visa bans and asset freezes on some of Putins closest political and business allies. But they have held back so far from measures designed to hit Russias wider economy. Europe and America are united in our support of the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people, Obama said after a meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Were united in imposing a cost on Russia for its actions so far. Prime Minister Rutte rightly pointed out yesterday the growing sanctions would bring significant consequences to the Russian economy. He also discussed the crisis at a private meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose government has voiced support for Ukraines territorial integrity but refrained from criticising Russia. The West wants Beijings diplomatic support in an effort to restrain Putin. Moscow formally annexed Crimea on 21 March, five days after newly-installed pro-Moscow regional leaders held a referendum that yielded an overwhelming vote to join Russia. Kiev and the West denounced the annexation as illegal. FURTHER COSTS Western officials are now focused less on persuading Putin to relinquish Crimea,a goal that seems beyond reach, than on deterring him from seizing other parts of Ukraine. Our interest is not in seeing the situation escalate and devolve into hot conflict, White House national security adviser Susan Rice told reporters. Our interest is in a diplomatic resolution, de-escalation, and obviously economic support for Ukraine, and to the extent that it continues to be necessary, further costs imposed on Russia for its actions. In The Hague, leaders of the G7 will discuss how to exert further pressure, and at what potential cost. The main idea for the G7 meeting is to show the isolation of Putin. We wont be adopting any sanctions but there might be discussion on what could be the next step, a G7 official said. He said they were also expected to cancel plans for a G8 meeting at the Russian Olympics site in Sochi, for which preparations were put on hold after Moscow seized Crimea. Persuading Europeans to sign on to tougher sanctions could be difficult for Obama. The EU does 10 times as much trade with Russia as the United States, and is the biggest customer for Russian oil and gas. The EUs 28 members include countries with widely varying relationships to Moscow. Central and east European states, which once lived under Soviet domination and joined the EU in the last decade, are mostly urging caution out of fear for their own economies. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the EUs most powerful leader, has taken a tough line with Putin and supported EU moves to reduce the blocs long-term dependence on Russian energy. LITTLE RESISTANCE So far, the seizure of Crimea has been largely bloodless, apart from one Ukrainian soldier and one pro-Moscow militia member killed in a shootout on Tuesday last week. Ukraines troops left behind in Crimea have been besieged inside bases while offering little resistance. Russian troops forced their way into a Ukrainian marine base in the port of Feodosia early on Monday, overrunning one of the last remaining symbols of resistance. Troops hugged each other in farewell. Some chanted Hurra! Hurra! in defiance. One marine in full uniform, who declined to identify himself, wept and blamed the government in Kiev for the chaotic end to the standoff. In Kiev, acting president Oleksander Turchinov told Parliament the remaining Ukrainian troops and their families would be pulled out of the region in the face of threats to the lives and health of our service personnel. That effectively ends any Ukrainian resistance, less than a month since Putin claimed Russias right to intervene militarily on its neighbors territory. Although Russian forces have not entered other parts of Ukraine, NATO says they have built up at the border. The Western military alliance also fears Putin may have designs on a part of another former Soviet republic, Moldova. Across Ukraines eastern border, Russian troops continue massing. Kiev fears it may be an invasion force ready to push into Russian-speaking communities in eastern Ukraine. Others are concerned that Moscows expansion plans may not stop at Crimea and that other former Soviet states may follow. NATOs top commander has voiced worries Moscows forces could roll into Moldovas separatist region Transnistria on the opposite side of Ukraine. Since Moscow annexed Crimea last week, many of the half-million people in that small, impoverished region have renewed calls to join the Russian Federation, too. Will other regions in Ukraine or Moldova be the next West-East Europe flashpoint? Where is Transnistria? Albright: Putin thinks he needs an enemy WH: Isolate Russia and support Ukraine Russia takes control of Ukrainian bases Transnistria is a breakaway region of the former Soviet state of Moldova. The Russian speakers of Transnistria seceded from Moldova in 1990, a year before the Soviet Unions dissolution, amid fears that Moldova would shortly merge with neighboring Romania, whose language and culture it broadly shares. The separatist region fought a brief war with Moldova in 1992, and it declared itself an independent state, but it remains unrecognized by any country. Attempts to resolve the dispute have made little progress, with Russian troops standing guard, acting as peacekeepers. Transnistria is already beyond the control of the Moldovan government. Just as a statue of Lenin overlooks the main square in the Crimean capital, Simferopol, so another stands outside Transnistrias regional assembly in Tiraspol. A 2006 referendum produced a 97.2% vote in favor of joining Russia, a slightly higher score than in Crimeas recent referendum. Unlike Crimea, however, landlocked Transnistria is far from Russia, wedged between Moldova and Ukraine. Its a sliver of territory along the Dniester River, with about 30% of its population ethnic Russian. Why are people worried? Until now, Russia has officially recognized Transnistria as being part of Moldova. But events in Ukraine may have shifted Moscows calculation, some say. During a trip last week to Moscow, Mikhail Burla, speaker of Transnistrias separatist parliament, urged Russia to incorporate the region, according to reports from the Russian capital. On Sunday, NATOs top military commander, Gen. Philip Breedlove, said the Russian force at the Ukrainian border now to the east was very, very sizable and very, very ready. There is absolutely sufficient force postured on the eastern border of Ukraine to run to Transnistria if the decision was made to do that, and that is very worrisome, said Breedlove, a U.S. Air Force general. What about Moldova? One of Europes poorest countries, Moldova has been governed by pro-Western leaders since 2009. It has clinched an association agreement with the European Union, as currently sought by the pro-Western leaders who came to power in Ukraine after the removal of Moscow-backed President Viktor Yanukovych. The small country of 3.5 million people is, like Ukraine, indebted to Moscow for natural gas imports that help keep its economy afloat. As with Ukraine, Russia opposes Moldovas efforts to build links with the EU. Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti has warned Russia not to consider any move to take over Transnistria in the same way it wrestled Crimea away from Kiev. Timofti has echoed criticism from Ukraines pro-Western leaders, the United States and EU countries when speaking of Russias actions in the Black Sea peninsula. And Ukrainian fears? For Kievs new leaders, the most immediate concern is not Transnistria but a growing separatist sentiment in its cities closest to its eastern border with Russia. We are very much concerned about this development and deployment of Russian troops on our eastern borders, acting Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia said on ABCs This Week. We are ready to respond. A senior U.S. defense official told CNN on Monday that Russia has enough troops that we believe they could move against Ukraine at any time now. The official emphasized the United States still does not know Russias intentions on the border. U.S. intelligence indicates the Russian forces are positioned possibly to go after three Ukrainian cities: Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk. Russian forces have moved so close to the border, there would be no warning time, and the United States would likely only see an incursion as it was happening. In the past few weeks, there have been pro-Russian rallies in cities such as Donetsk, Yanukovychs home city. The latest over the weekend, however, were small, with organizers saying only a few thousand people rallied. What is happening in Kiev is not for me. Russia, Crimea, Belarus are mine, they are our brothers, we are with them, and I want to appeal -- Putin help us, Donetsk resident Vasily Anenko said -- cries that have become increasingly heard in the area. Kiev has ordered the withdrawal of armed forces from Crimea, citing Russian threats to the lives of military staff and their families, effectively yielding the region to Moscows forces, which stormed one of Kievs last bases there Monday. What has Russia said? Moscow has continuously stated Russia has no intention to move further into Ukraine. The Kremlin says it is simply conducting military exercises. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov was quoted by the states Itar-Tass news agency Sunday as saying Russia was complying with international agreements limiting the number of troops near its border with Ukraine. Moscows ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, said nobody has anything to fear from Russia and that the country does not have any expansionist views. Asked to give a commitment that Russian troops would not move into Ukrainian territory outside Crimea, Chizhov told Britains BBC: There is no intention of the Russian Federation to do anything like that. And the West? In what has become the biggest East-West confrontation since the Cold War, the United States and EU have imposed visa bans and asset freezes on some of Russian President Vladimir Putins closest political and business allies. But they have held back so far from measures designed to hit Russias wider economy U.S. Vice President Joe Biden was dispatched to meet Polish and Baltic leaders last week in an effort to reassure NATO allies alarmed at the Kremlins intervention in Ukraine. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry traveled to Moldova in December -- part of a show of support for its pro-Western moves in the face of Russian pressure -- when it signed the key economic and political agreement with the EU. Russia had responded to Moldovas moves toward the EU by cutting off imports of Moldovan wine. On Monday, U.S. President Barack Obama began crisis talks at a meeting with other leaders of the Group of Seven, a group of industrialized nations that excludes Russia, which joined in 1998 to form the G8. The group is to consider a collective response to the crisis during talks in The Hague, the Netherlands. Europe and America are united in our support of the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people, Obama said. Were united in imposing a cost on Russia for its actions so far. Persuading Putin to relinquish Crimea is a goal that now seems beyond reach, and Western officials are likely to seek ways to deter the Russian leader from seizing others parts of Ukraine. However, persuading Europeans to sign on to tougher sanctions could be a challenge for Obama. The EU does 10 times as much trade with Russia as the United States, and is the biggest customer for Russian oil and gas. The blocs 28 members also include countries with widely varying relationships with Moscow.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 19:54:38 +0000
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