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Russia Says Yanukovych Asked For Troops

March 03, 2014
by RFE/RL

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin has said that Ukraine's ousted President Viktor Yanukovych sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin requesting that he use the Russian military to restore law and order in his country.

Churkin was speaking at an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting on Ukraine, which Russia called for to set out in greater detail its policy after being threatened by U.S. and EU sanctions.

Churkin held up a copy of the letter for council members to see.

Speaking from the White House earlier, U.S. President Barack Obama said Russia is 'on the wrong side of history' on Ukraine and that Russian actions violate international law.

Obama said Russia's decision to deploy troops in Ukraine's Crimean peninsula would prove a 'costly proposition for Moscow' and added the situation in Crimea was 'deeply troubling.'

He urged Putin to allow international monitors to mediate a deal that would be acceptable to Ukraine's people.

Obama also called on the U.S. Congress to provide an assistance package to the Ukrainian people quickly.

Meanwhile, Russia's Black Sea fleet has denied it plans to launch an assault on Ukrainian military units unless they surrender by dawn on March 4.

Interfax quoted a Black Sea Fleet spokesman as saying claims of an ultimatum by Ukraine's military were 'utter nonsense.'

Earlier, it was reported that Ukraine's Defense Ministry said that the commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet Aleksandr Vitko had given Ukrainian military forces stationed in Crimea until 0500 local time on March 4 to surrender or face attack.

The state of Ukraine's armed forces on the Crimean peninsula is unclear.

The interim government in Kyiv appointed Denis Berezovsky to be commander of the Navy but Berezovsky announced on March 2 he was supporting the pro-Russian self-declared Crimean government.

Berezovsky was quickly sacked and as of March 3 naval officers were reportedly backing Kyiv's new selection for commander Serhiy Haiduk.

Ukraine's acting President Oleksander Turchinov said Russia's military presence was growing in Crimea and urged Moscow to halt what it called aggression and piracy.

Turchinov said the situation was difficult in the south and east of the country, where there are many Russian speakers, but that the Ukrainian authorities had matters there under control.

He told a news briefing that Russia's Black Sea Fleet had trapped Ukrainian navy vessels in the bay of Sevastopol, where the Russian fleet has a base

Diplomatic Sparring

Russia and Western nations have exchanged sharp criticisms over the situation in Ukraine.

The top U.S. diplomat in Europe says that 'advance teams' from the OSCE will start deploying in Ukraine late on March 3, but Russian objections mean the pan-European rights body has yet to agree on a full-scale mission.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland, talking in Vienna on the sidelines of a special meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, called on Russia to make 'the right choice.'

The State Department said Secretary of State John Kerry is due to leave Washington later on March 3 to travel to Kyiv.

EU Sanctions

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton says European Union member states have agreed to consider targeted sanctions against Russia if Moscow does not 'deescalate' the threat of military action against Ukraine.

Ashton, speaking after an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers on March 3 in Brussels, said the EU strongly condemned what she called 'clear violation' of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity by Russia.

She called on Russia to withdraw its troops back to bases, and urged Moscow to agree to Ukraine's request for consultations.

Ashton said she would hold talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on March 4 in Madrid, before traveling to Kyiv on March 5.
​​
With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-diplomacy- russia-consolidation/25283380.html

Copyright (c) 2014. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.