#Crimeanleaders get #redcarpettreatment on #visittoMoscow #Russianparliaments #speaker says #peopleofCrimea will be #welcomed if they #vote to #joincountry in #referendum Share 42 Tweet this Email Shaun Walker in Sevastopol theguardian, Friday 7 March 2014 23.24 GMT Jump to comments (…) Crimea rally in Moscow People hold Russian flags and a poster reading all together at a rally in support of Crimea in Moscow. Photograph: Yuri Kochetkov/EPA A day after Crimeas de facto rulers announced they had voted to join the Russian Federation, they were given the red carpet treatment in Moscow, in a further sign Russia plans to annex the territory. If the people of Crimea express their will and decide to join Russia, we as the upper house of parliament will support their decision, said Valentina Matvienko, the speaker, in a joint press conference with her Crimean counterpart. Later in the evening, the assault against Ukrainian military bases in the territory continued, as two trucks of Russian troops stormed a base near Sevastopol and threatened to shoot to kill those inside if they did not surrender. In the end, the troops left. Crimeas parliament on Thursday rushed through a bill which in effect declared independence from Ukraine, and brought forward a referendum on autonomy which the regions deputy prime minister, Rustam Temirgaliev, said would merely ratify the decision. Ukraines interim prime minister, Arseny Yatseniuk, said yesterday the vote would have no legal grounds at all, adding that no one in the civilised world would recognise the result. Earlier this week, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said the idea of joining Crimea to Russia was not being considered but events since have suggested the opposite. Matvienkos comments are the strongest indication yet that Moscow is planning a move that would leave Kiev and the west furious. If the decision is made, it will be an absolutely equal subject of the Russian Federation with full rights and responsibilities … The citizens of Crimea will be equal to Russian citizens, with the same salaries, pensions, social benefits and social protection, said Matvienko. Putin, in a conversation with the US president, Barack Obama, said: Russia cannot ignore calls for help and it acts accordingly, in full compliance with international law, according to a Kremlin statement about the call. Matvienko complained about the speed with which the new Ukrainian government wanted to hold presidential elections on 25 May, and said the conditions in Ukraine were not conducive to free and fair elections, referring to continuing violence, intimidation, illegal decisions, seizure of buildings, humiliation of people, threats to life, a ban on speaking Russian, and the repression of political opponents and journalists. She appeared less concerned by the political situation in Crimea, where Sergei Aksyonov came to power during a murky seizure of the local parliament, and where the referendum date has been brought forward twice and will now be organised in just over a week. There is increasing concern about the lack of oversight of events in Crimea, where passions are high and groups of pro-Russian militia have behaved aggressively to journalists and monitors, forcing the UNs special envoy to cut short his trip and leave the region earlier in the week. Yesterday, an OSCE mission intended to monitor the military activity in Crimea was again turned back at a road crossing into the peninsula. The mission of 52 unarmed military observers from 28 countries was turned away by armed irregulars. The referendum will ask whether voters want Crimea to join Russia or be given more autonomy within Ukraine. Almost everyone in the region wants autonomy for Crimea, but it is far from clear that a majority are in favour of joining Russia. In Moscow, a large government-sanctioned rally in support of Crimea gathered near the Kremlin yesterday, while in Sochi, Putin attended the opening of the Paralympics. Earlier in the day, he met the head of the Ukrainian delegation. Valeriy Shushkevich said he had asked Putin to keep the peace during the Olympic period. If there is an escalation of the conflict, intervention on the territory of our country, God forbid the worst, we would not be able to stay here. We would go, he said later. Ukraines border guard service claims there are 30,000 Russian troops in Crimea, compared with 11,000 stationed there permanently before the tensions. Theres an incredibly tense situation now, said a Ukrainian military source in Sevastopol. Neither side wants to be seen to shoot first, but if one side starts shooting, there is going to be chaos, and whoever fired the first shot will be held responsible. We feel they are trying to provoke us into that. Late on Friday evening, two trucks of Russian troops stormed a Ukrainian missile defence base outside Sevastopol, driving two military trucks through the gates. The deputy commander of the base emerged and explained what had happened shortly after the standoff ended, late at night. Two trucks of people, who did not identify themselves but we presume were Russian soldiers, stormed the base through the gates, and threatened to shoot to kill if the base was not surrendered, he said. The deputy commander said his troops ignored the orders and eventually negotiations took place with Russian officers, which ended with the Russians leaving. The two trucks sped out of the base at speed. Outside, groups of self-defence irregulars gathered, and attacked at least two journalists, one Ukrainian and one Russian. As the Ukrainian, a cameraman, was being taken to hospital with a group of fellow journalists the car was stopped and they were again attacked. They were being treated in hospital in Simferopol overnight and the extent of their injuries was unclear. theguardian/world/2014/mar/07/crimean-leaders-red-carpet-visit-moscow?guni=Network%20front:network-front%20main-3%20Main%20trailblock:Network%20front%20-%20main%20trailblock:Position2:sublinks
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 20:13:57 +0000
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