Russian take-over of Crimea

The Ukrainian capital, Kiev, erupted in violent demonstrations and street clashes in late January, culminating with the removal by Parliament of President Viktor Yanukovych. Tensions mounted in the Crimea region, where additional Russian troops and armoured vehicles were reportedly deployed.

Ukrainian Presidential Election October 2004 - Viktor Yanukovych (First Round) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The last few days we saw how how the Crimean people could only give two votes in Sunday's referendum of which we can question if it was legally installed. The referendum in which 96.8 percent of Crimean residents voted in favour of the secession could also been seen as a voice of the majority. The voter turnout in the referendum stood at 83.1 percent. Those who did not turn up to give their vote in a certain way can now not complain.
It for sure did not resolve in Ukraine the country’s ongoing political crisis.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned on Monday, March 17 the proclaimed independence from Ukraine, will further worsen the situation around Ukraine. 


Ban Ki-moon is “deeply concerned and disappointed” that this weekend’s Crimea secession referendum will only exacerbate an “already complex and tense situation.”

Since the beginning of the crisis, the UN chief has urged all parties to avoid “hasty steps” that could exacerbate tensions.

“He encourages all parties to work for a solution that is guided by the principles of the United Nations Charter, including respecting Ukraine’s unity and sovereignty,”

 said Mr. Dujarric.

What we in the West hear is only that most Tartars stayed at home and did not go to vote. So you could wonder if they now can complain. Looking at the results,in case they where received honestly the majority of the voters in Crimea overwhelmingly supported leaving Ukraine and joining Russia. The referendum caps months of political unrest, triggered by the Government's decision last November not to sign an agreement on broader European integration. The Ukrainian capital, Kiev, erupted in violent demonstrations and street clashes in late January, culminating with the removal by Parliament of President Viktor Yanukovych. Tensions mounted in the Crimea region, where additional Russian troops and armoured vehicles were reportedly deployed.

In his statement today, the Secretary-General condemned the violence which occurred over the weekend in eastern Ukraine and which resulted in injuries and loss of life on all sides.

“The Secretary-General once again urges all parties to refrain from violence and to commit themselves to de-escalation and inclusive national dialogue in the pursuit of a political and diplomatic solution,”

 said Mr. Dujarric, adding:

“A deterioration of the situation will have serious repercussions for the people of Ukraine, the region and beyond.”  

The UN chief also urged all parties in Ukraine and those with influence to avoid any steps that could further increase tensions.

“Above all, the Secretary-General urges all concerned to intensify their efforts and engage constructively toward a peaceful solution to this crisis, with the aspirations of all the people of Ukraine foremost in mind,”

said Mr. Dujarric, adding that Mr. Ban remains ready to work with all parties to resolve this situation.


Moscow and Kiev are on the brink of conflict following a breakdown in relations in the wake of last month's overthrow of Ukraine's former Kremlin-backed president Viktor Yanukovych.
On Tuesday, Putin signed a treaty absorbing the Ukrainian region of Crimea into Russia and on Wednesday pro-Russian troops stormed a Ukrainian naval headquarters on the peninsula.
 
Much of the international community, including the United States and the European Union, rejects the annexation of Crimea as illegal, but Moscow in turn refuses to recognise the Ukrainian government. 

The Secretary-General will travel to Kiev on Friday, where he will hold talks with top Ukrainian officials, members of the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission and representatives of civil society.
The statement said the visit was "part of (Ban's) diplomatic efforts to encourage all parties to resolve the current crisis peacefully". Key elements of the charter include respect for fellow U.N. member states' sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the peaceful resolution of international disputes.

The Christadelphian brothers and sisters in Kiev, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Crimea thankfully can report that they are all well, and unaffected so far by the protests and the Russian take-over of Crimea. However their cost of living will increase as the grivna devalues against foreign currencies, and imports cost more.

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• The Ongoing Crisis in Ukraine (lawprofessors.typepad.com)
  The statement comes in the wake of an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council on Saturday, at which the 15-nation body was blocked from adopting a resolution urging the international community to affirm Ukraine’s national borders and declare the referendum in Crimea invalid, owing to a “no” vote from Russia, a permanent member.  China – who is also a permanent member, along with France, United Kingdom and the United States – abstained in the vote. 
• EU mulls further sanctions on Russia over Crimea (seattletimes.com)
  Pro-Russian forces seized three Ukrainian warships Thursday and Ukraine said its troops were being threatened in Crimea as the U.S. announced a new round of sanctions against Russia for its annexation of the Black Sea peninsula.
  Tensions in the region remained high despite the release of a Ukrainian naval commander held by pro-Russian forces.
  Shots were fired but there were no casualties as the Ukrainian corvette Khmelnitsky was seized in Sevastopol, according to an AP photographer at the scene. Another ship, the Lutsk, was also surrounded by pro-Russian forces. An AP photographer later saw Ukrainian servicemen disembarking a third ship, the Ternopil corvette.
  
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• Pro-Russian Mobs Seize Two Ukrainian Warships in Sevastopol Harbor (matthewaid.com)
  Pro-Russian crowds seized two Ukrainian warships Thursday and Ukraine said its troops were being threatened in Crimea as the European Union considered new sanctions against Russia for its annexation of the Black Sea peninsula.
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  In an address to the German Parliament in Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU was readying further sanctions and that the G-8 forum of leading economies had been suspended indefinitely. Russia holds the presidency of the G-8 and President Vladimir Putin was due to host his counterparts, including President Barack Obama, at a G-8 summit in Sochi in June.
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• Ukraine would accept Russia's annexation of Crimea as new reality (drabdulruff.wordpress.com)
  Russians celebrate the annexation of Crimea – perhaps as the first ever Russian victory in the post-Soviet era. Many Russian leaders applauded Putin’s courage. Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has defended Russia’s takeover of Crimea, saying that the referendum among the peninsula’s voters corrected a historical “mistake.” Gorbachev, the recipient of the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize, added that international sanctions — such as those the U.S. and European nations have brought against Russia — would be justified only on very serious grounds, but the takeover of Crimea had failed to provide that.
• Ukraine would accept Russia's annexation of Crimea as new reality (abdulruff.wordpress.com)
  Many Russians have used Crimea’s history as a reason to legitimate Russian military intervention in the peninsula, which harbors a 60 percent Russian-speaking population and voted in favor of joining Russia in a referendum. Crimea was part of Russia until Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev handed it over to Ukraine in 1954, in a symbolic gesture that had little significance at the time since both countries were part of the Soviet Union. In 1991, the leader of the Russian Soviet Republic, Boris Yeltsin, and his counterparts from Ukraine and Belarus signed a deal breaking up the Soviet Union and establishing new independent states. Gorbachev did not participate in the 1991 meeting.
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  Moscow says it reserves the right to “defend” Russian speakers in eastern and southern regions of Ukraine. Moving closer to the EU does not preclude Ukraine maintaining good relations with Russia, Yatsenyuk said. Beyond the grander political gestures of the day, Parubiy said Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry had been instructed to introduce a visa regime for travel between the two nations. The move could badly affect Ukrainian migrant laborers, many of whom work in Russia and send home money. It came against the backdrop of claims that Russian citizens were pouring across the Ukrainian border to foment secessionist unrest in bordering eastern regions.
• Europe mulls response to Russia's absorption of Crimea (dnaindia.com)
  The EU faces tough decisions in finding a credible response to an explosive security crisis on its eastern frontier, with biting sanctions likely to hurt member states with strong economic links to Russia.
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• Putin adds Crimea to Kremlin fort, defends the action! Ramifications! (abdulrubb.wordpress.com)
  In a fiercely patriotic address to a joint session of the Russian
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  tears, Putin lambasted the West for what he called hypocrisy. Western
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  EU foreign ministers agreed to subject 21 Russian and Ukrainian officials
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