No decisions should be made about the future of Ukraine without the Ukrainian government.
Moreover, this vote was not necessary. The Ukrainian government has made clear its willingness to discuss increased autonomy for Crimea, and the presidential elections planned for May 25 provide a legitimate opportunity for all Ukrainians to make their voices heard on the future of their country.
In addition, Ukraine, the United States, the EU, the OSCE, the UN, and others have called for Russia to allow international monitors into the Crimean peninsula to ensure that the rights of ethnic Russians in Ukraine are being upheld. Russia has spurned those calls as well as outreach from the Ukrainian government and instead has escalated its military intervention into Crimea and initiated threatening military exercises on Ukraine’s eastern border.
Russia’s actions are dangerous and destabilizing. The UN Security Council recognized this in a vote yesterday that only Russia opposed. As the United States and our allies have made clear, military intervention and violation of international law will bring increasing costs for Russia – not only due to measures imposed by the United States and our allies but also as a direct result of Russia’s own destabilizing actions.
In this century, we are long past the days when the international community will stand quietly by while one country forcibly seizes the territory of another. We call on all members of the international community to continue to condemn such actions, to take concrete steps to impose costs, and to stand together in support of the Ukrainian people and Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/03/16/statement-press-secretary-ukraine
16/3/14
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Related:
Putin: referendum in Crimea fully complied with international law norms...
Putin le dice a Obama que la consulta en Crimea es legal y le recuerda el precedente de Kosovo...
Crimée: l'adhésion à la Russie votée par 93% de la population (sortie des urnes)
Churkin: Crimea within Ukraine impossible due to legal vacuum after coup
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Reaction of West to Crimea referendum will be utterly reserved from economic point of view...
ReplyDeleteThe results of the all-Crimea referendum, in which, according to preliminary data, more than 96% of residents have declared in favour of joining the RF will give rise to a stormy reaction from the West, experts predict.
"The matter currently revolves around two things: the RF actions after the publication of official results, and international reaction,"Dmitry Abzalov, president of the Strategic cCommunications Center, told Itar-Tass.
As far as international reaction is concerned, it will be, according to the political scientist, "of course a stormy one, particularly on the part of Washington". "However, no one will be axing the energy-supply pipe, and no one will be imposing an embargo," the political scientist maintains.
Abzalov believes that "An informational splash" will be a short-lived one. "An informational war will last three days and then a strategic discussion will ensue," the political scientist said.
For her part, Oksana Gaman-Golutvina, chairperson of the Russian Association of Political Science, pointed out that opinions about a non-recognition of the outcome of the referendum had been made public prior to the plebiscite. "This kind of judgements usually happen to be prejudiced. Much more trust is aroused by the opinion of analysts, both Russian and foreign ones, of whom there are more than 150 from 23 countries, who with one voice speak about lackof any significant infractions. And this engenders trust," she emphasized.
As far as US and EU reaction is conerned, they, Gaman-Golutvina recalled, have rather definitely formulated their stance. "In this sense, everything is rather predictable," she said.
At the same time, in expert's view, one must differentiate political and economic sanctions. "It is economic sancitons that are most significant in the present-day world. The scope of economic contacts with the European Union is quite great, particularly those with Germany, and in reference to EU countries the cost of economic sanctions against Russia may do quite a considerable damage. This is why, I believe that EU members will take up a reserved attitude to the application of economic sanctions against Russia", the president of the Russian Association of Political Science said in conclusion.
http://en.itar-tass.com/economy/723856
17/3/14
Japan urges Russia not to annex Crimea...
ReplyDeleteTOKYO: Japan on Monday said it would "strongly urge" Russia not to annex Crimea, joining a chorus of criticism over a weekend referendum by the region of Ukraine as Washington hinted at fresh sanctions against Moscow.
With more than half the ballots counted, preliminary results showed 95.5 per cent of voters were in favour of leaving Ukraine and rejoining former political master Russia.
The vote would mark the most radical redrawing of the map of Europe since Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia, and follows the ouster of Ukraine's pro-Moscow leader.
"Our country does not approve the result" of the referendum, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the Japanese government's top spokesman, told a regular news conference.
"Japan will strongly urge Russia to abide by international law completely, respect Ukraine's sovereignty and integrity of its territory, and not to go ahead with annexing Crimea," he added.
The comments came as US President Barack Obama hinted at possible additional sanctions on Russia, warning his counterpart Vladimir Putin that the United States and its allies would "never" recognise Crimea's breakaway vote held Sunday.
Suga said Japan would cooperate with other Group of Seven world powers in dealing with the Crimea issue.
Tokyo has started to study possible economic sanctions against Russia, the leading Nikkei business daily reported Sunday, citing unnamed government sources.
- AFP/nd
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/japan-urges-russia-not-to/1038418.html
17/3/14
Ministers of 28 EU states to hold emergency meeting on referendum in Crimea...
ReplyDeleteAftermaths of Sunday’s referendum on the future of Crimea, the legitimacy of which the EU and the US refuse to recognize, and the possible sanctions against Russia will become the dominant issue at a conference of foreign ministers of the EU’s 28 member-states. The ministers are gathering in Brussels for an emergency meeting. The EU followed the US, Britain, France, Italy, and NATO in declaring its refusal to honor the results of the referendum, insisting on its illegitimacy.
"The solution to the crisis in Ukraine must be based on the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, in the framework of the Ukrainian Constitution as well as the strict adherence to international standards," EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a joint statement Sunday.
"Only working together through diplomatic processes, including direct discussions between the Governments of Ukraine and Russia, can we find a solution to the crisis," they said adding that the EU "… has a special responsibility for peace, stability and prosperity on the European continent and will continue pursuing these objectives using all available channels."
EU leaders issued a warning to Russia at an emergency summit March 6 that it would face "serious consequences" unless it took immediate steps towards a scaling down of tensions. Among the steps of this kind, the EU demanded the Moscow begin talks with the authorities in Kiev and return the Black Sea Fleet military to the sites of permanent deployment.........Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_03_17/Ministers-of-28-EU-states-to-hold-emergency-meeting-on-referendum-in-Crimea-8329/
17/3/14
Executive Order -- Blocking Property of Additional Persons Contributing to the Situation in Ukraine...
ReplyDeleteEXECUTIVE ORDER
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BLOCKING PROPERTY OF ADDITIONAL PERSONS CONTRIBUTING
TO THE SITUATION IN UKRAINE
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (NEA), section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,
I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, hereby expand the scope of the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13660 of March 6, 2014, finding that the actions and policies of the Government of the Russian Federation with respect to Ukraine -- including the recent deployment of Russian Federation military forces in the Crimea region of Ukraine -- undermine democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine; threaten its peace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity; and contribute to the misappropriation of its assets, and thereby constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. Accordingly, I hereby order:
Section 1. (a) All property and interests in property that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of any United States person (including any foreign branch) of the following persons are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in:
(i) the persons listed in the Annex to this order; and
(ii) persons determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State:
(A) to be an official of the Government of the Russian Federation;
(B) to operate in the arms or related materiel sector in the Russian Federation;
(C) to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly:..........................http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/03/17/executive-order-blocking-property-additional-persons-contributing-situat
17/3/14
FACT SHEET: Ukraine-Related Sanctions. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary....
ReplyDeletePresident Obama today issued a new Executive Order (E.O.) under the national emergency with respect to Ukraine that finds that the actions and policies of the Russian government with respect to Ukraine -– including through the deployment of Russian military forces in the Crimea region of Ukraine –- undermine democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine; threaten its peace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity; and contribute to the misappropriation of its assets.
This new authority expands upon E.O. 13660, which the President signed less than two weeks ago, by authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to impose sanctions on named officials of the Russian government, any individual or entity that operates in the Russian arms industry, and any designated individual or entity that acts on behalf of, or that provides material or other support to, any senior Russian government official. We have fashioned these sanctions to impose costs on named individuals who wield influence in the Russian government and those responsible for the deteriorating situation in Ukraine. We stand ready to use these authorities in a direct and targeted fashion as events warrant.
In response to the Russian government’s actions contributing to the crisis in Ukraine, this new E.O. lists seven Russian government officials who are being designated for sanctions. These individuals are Vladislav Surkov, Sergey Glazyev, Leonid Slutsky, Andrei Klishas, Valentina Matviyenko, Dmitry Rogozin, and Yelena Mizulina...................http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/03/17/fact-sheet-ukraine-related-sanctions
17/3/14