WORLD_ UKRAINE_ John Kerry: leave Ukraine or face sanctions

John Kerry: leave Ukraine or face sanctions

Russian leader pulls forces back from border, saying any sanctions against Russia will backfire

The Associated Press
Posted: Mar 04, 2014 12:23 AM ET
Last Updated: Mar 04, 2014 1:50 PM ET
CBC NEWS

UPDATED

* U.S. will give Ukraine $1 billion in lost energy subsidies
* Kerry threatens to isolate Russia “politically, diplomatically and economically” if military doesn’t
* Putin calls Ukraine uprising an “unconstitutional coup”
* Ukrainian PM says Russian and Ukranian ministers have started holding talks


U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has warned Russia it faces increasing isolation if it doesn’t stop its military incursion in Ukraine’s Crimea at a news conference in Kyiv on Tuesday.

Kerry, who toured Kyiv’s shrines and the area where over 100 protesters were shot by snipers last month, praised the new Ukrainian government.

“The contrast could really not be clearer: the Ukrainians demonstrating strength through unity, and the Russian government out of excuses … hiding its hand behind falsehoods, intimidation and provocations."

“In the hearts of Ukrainians and in the eyes of the world there is nothing strong about what Russia is doing.”

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Kerry said the U.S. isn't seeking confrontation, but said his country will hinder Russia politically, diplomatically and economically if it doesn’t recall its military assets. The U.S. has already suspended plans to attend preparations for the G8 Summit in Sochi and said bilateral economic dialogue may also be cut off.

Meanwhile, Kerry said, “the United States and its partners will support Ukraine.”

U.S. President Barack Obama, who held an almost simultaneous news conference, announced $1 billion in funding for Ukraine to help repair its economy. Obama said the money will also be used to help Ukraine plan upcoming elections.

Kerry said the U.S. is also providing technical assistance to help Ukraine’s financial institutions recover.

Putin calls Ukraine uprising a 'coup'

Kerry's comments came hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow reserves the right to use all means to protect Russians in Ukraine — specifically in the Crimean peninsula.

Putin accused the West of encouraging an unconstitutional coup in Ukraine and driving it into anarchy. He also declared that any sanctions the West places on Russia will backfire.

The remarks were Putin's first comments since Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych fled Kyiv last month and landed in Russia. Ukraine's new government wants to put him on trial for the deaths of over 80 people during protests in Kyiv.

Tensions remained high Tuesday in the strategic Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, with troops loyal to Moscow firing warning shots to ward off protesting Ukrainian soldiers.

"There can be only one assessment of what happened in Kyiv, in Ukraine in general. This was an unconstitutional coup and the armed seizure of power. No one argues with this. Who can argue with it?" Putin asked a small group of reporters at his residence outside Moscow

"This is the last resort. We believe, have believed and will believe, that Ukraine is not only our closest neighbour but a brotherly republic."

Putin also said he considers Yanukovych to still be Ukraine's leader and hopes that Russia won't need to use force in predominantly Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine.

He did say, however, that Yanukovych has no political future and Russia gave him shelter only to save his life.

Putin accused the West of using Yanukovych's decision in November to ditch a pact with the 28-nation European Union in favour of closer ties with Russia to encourage the months of protests that drove him from power.

"He also said — quite unbelievably — that the soldiers [in Ukraine] were not Russians, that they were self-defence forces in post-Soviet uniforms that they'd gotten from somewhere else," CBC's Susan Ormiston reported from Kyiv.

"We know that some [soldiers] have identified themselves as being Russian."

Earlier Tuesday, the Kremlin said Putin had ordered tens of thousands of Russian troops participating in military exercises near Ukraine's border to return to their bases. The massive military exercise in western Russia involving 150,000 troops, hundreds of tanks and dozens of aircraft was supposed to wrap up anyway, so it was not clear if Putin's move was an attempt to heed the West's call to de-escalate the crisis that has put Ukraine's future on the line.

Warning shots fired in Crimea

On Tuesday, Russian troops who had taken control of the Belbek air base in the Crimea region fired warning shots into the air as around 300 Ukrainian soldiers, who previously manned the airfield, demanded their jobs back.

About a dozen Russian soldiers at the base warned the Ukrainians, who were marching unarmed, not to approach. They fired several warning shots into the air and said they would shoot the Ukrainians if they continued to march toward them.

The shots reflected tensions running high in the Black Sea peninsula since Russian troops — estimated by Ukrainian authorities to be 16,000 strong — tightened their grip over the weekend on the Crimean peninsula, where Moscow's Black Sea Fleet is based.

Ukraine has accused Russia of violating a bilateral agreement on conditions of a Russian lease of a naval base in Crimea that restricts troop movements, but Russia has argued that it was acting within the limits set by the deal.

Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, said Monday at the UN Security Council that Russia was entitled to deploy up to 25,000 troops in Crimea under the agreement. Churkin didn't specify how many Russian troops are now stationed in Crimea, but said that "they are acting in a way they consider necessary to protect their facilities and prevent extremist actions."

There was no sign of tensions elsewhere in Crimea early on Tuesday. A supposed Russian ultimatum for two Ukrainian warships to surrender or be seized passed without action from either side, as the two ships remained anchored in the Crimean port of Sevastopol. Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Vladimir Anikin said late Monday that no ultimatum had been issued.

Early on Tuesday, the Kremlin said Putin ordered troops participating in military exercises alongside Russia's western border to return to their permanent bases. The order was in line with an earlier plan to complete the exercise early this week.

Image: Pro-Russian demonstrators occupied a regional government building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on March 3 in the latest in days of rallies that the newly formed government in Kyiv said are organized by Moscow as a pretext to invade. The building has been flying the Russian flag, rather than the Ukrainian one, for days. (Valeriy Bilokryl/Reuters)

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/john-kerry-leave-ukraine-or-face-sanctions-1.2558841



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