Putin veto’s the EU resolution against Crimea

 

 

By Jaime Ortega.

Manifestación de activistas proPutin, este sábado en Moscú.

 

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and Russia have agreed on a truce until next March 21. Under the agreement, the Russian armed forces will not take any action against the Ukrainian Crimea facilities during this period.

Russia yesterday again showed signs of challenging the West ,  in its new role as an advocate for self-determination for ex Soviet nations. Moscow exercised its right to veto the draft resolution of the Security Council of the United Nations which sought to declare the referendum to be held today in Crimea “invalid” to join the Russian Federation. Moscow was alone in a query that will not be recognized by the U.S. or the EU. The growing military tension on the border of the peninsula with the mainland in Ukraine have escalated as of today, and Russian troops await orders from the Kremlin in Crimea.

The draft of the UN declared that the referendum on Crimea ” cannot have validity and serve as a basis to alter in any way the status ” of the Russian-speaking peninsula, and called on ” all states and international organizations to not recognize any impairment with the status of Crimea from this referendum .

” Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said that Russia has advocated from the outset on the grounds that the referendum does not violate international law , so ” the veto is not a surprise.” China and Russia usual ally in this forum, this time opted for abstention .

Taking positions by soldiers in Crimea deployed from Moscow threatens to provoke an armed clash , especially after the cast of Russian troops that raided the Kherson region , located south of the mainland and outside Ukraine and Crimea. Kiev demanded the immediate withdrawal of the Ukrainian territory.

“Ukraine reserves the right to take all necessary measures to repel this aggression from Russian measures,” said the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to Ukrainian media  yesterday , helicopters landed with 40 Marines of Russian armed forces. This was detected by border guards who are stationed in that area of ​​the region bordering Kherson with Crimea. According to local media, these troops then added three armored vehicles and six helicopters, which landed 60 soldiers .

Spokesmen for the Russian forces claimed that its sole purpose was to defend distribution of a gas facility from possible terrorist acts. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry previously pointed out that his forces had repelled an attack by Russian troops in the region.

Prime Minister of Ukraine, Arseniy Yatseniuk announced that the “political section” of the association agreement between Ukraine and the European Union signed on 21 March is still active. The EU part of the agreement that aborted the previous Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovich, can still be revived . The economic part of the partnership agreement is still pending ratification also pending the future of Crimea clarification. With little hope the Ukrainian parliament voted to dissolve the People’s Assembly of Crimea, regional legislature.

 

While in Russia , Thousands of people took to the streets of Moscow to join marches in support and opposition to the Russian intervention in the Ukrainian region of Crimea. The latest polls show that the majority of Russians still considered this Ukrainian peninsula as part of Russia, but the protest has led against the invasion Putin plans outside its borders . About 30,000 people attended the march, chanting slogans such as ” No to war ” or ” For a Russia without Putin and Ukraine .” The concentration was riddled with Russian and Ukrainian flags, and included the participation of the founder of Pussy Riot .

The demonstration of support for the intervention attracted some 15,000 attendees . In the same slogans and chanted slogans as “Crimea, we are with you ! “, “Russia does not abandon his people! ” or “Ukraine and Russia , Unite against fascism.” Many activists carrying flags of the Soviet Union in a march ended with a ceremony at the Revolution Square in the Russian capital , near the Kremlin , where some speakers incited back to the present the figure of the Ukrainian nationalist leader of the Second World War Stepan Bandera, filonazi considered in broad sectors as a legend within and outside Russia.

The bloody riots last month in Kiev , which these days have spread to other Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine are constantly cited in the Crimea and in Russia as a prologue of disorders that can be primed with the Russians throughout the former USSR.

Two people died in the night from Friday to Saturday and five were wounded as  registered in the city of Kharkov , Ukraine in the northeast , where the shooting apparently involved pro-Russian activists having pro-Ukranian resentment . For Moscow these violations are proof that Kiev is losing control of these territories in the east where pro-Russian organizations  who are struggling to open . But the acting president of Ukraine, Aleksander Turchinov , blamed the “agents of the Kremlin” for these violent episodes that occurred during the last week in the eastern cities of the country. Kiev has repeatedly warned of the danger of a Russian invasion as the country would follow the occupation of the Crimea .

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