Russian President Vladimir Putin has defended the separatist drive in the disputed Crimean Peninsula as in keeping with international law, as Ukraine’s prime minister vowed not to relinquish “a single centimetre” of his country’s territory.
Over the weekend, the Kremlin beefed up its military presence in Crimea, a part of Ukraine since 1954, and pro-Russia forces keep pushing for a vote in favour of reunification with Moscow in a referendum the local parliament has scheduled for next Sunday.
US President Barack Obama has warned the March 16 vote would violate international law. But in Moscow, Mr Putin made it clear that he supports the referendum in phone calls with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minister David Cameron.
“The steps taken by the legitimate leadership of Crimea are based on the norms of international law and aim to ensure the legal interests of the population of the peninsula,” said Mr Putin.
Following an extraordinary Sunday meeting of the Ukrainian government, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced that he will fly to the US this week for high-level talks on “resolution of the situation in Ukraine”.
“Our country and our people are facing the biggest challenges in the history of modern independent Ukraine,” he said.
In an emotional climate of crisis, Ukraine solemnly commemorated the 200th anniversary of the birth of its greatest poet, Taras Shevchenko, a son of peasant serfs who is a national hero and the father of modern Ukrainian literature.
“This is our land,” Mr Yatsenyuk told a crowd gathered at the Kiev statue to Shevchenko. “Our fathers and grandfathers have spilled their blood for this land. And we won’t budge a single centimetre from Ukrainian land. Let Russia and its president know this.”
Meanwhile, in Simferopol, Crimea’s capital,more than 4,000 people turned out to endorse unification with Russia.
Foreign Secretary William Hague described Russia’s entering Crimea as a “big miscalculation”. He also said the March 16 referendum was happening “ridiculously quickly”.
During his conversations with Mr Cameron and Ms Merkel, Mr Putin criticised the Western leaders for failure to press the new government in Kiev to curb ultra-nationalist and radical forces.
But the Kremlin also said that despite their differences, the three leaders expressed an interest in reducing tensions and normalising the situation in Ukraine as soon as possible.