[Obama added that
he signed a new executive order Thursday that gives the United States authority
to impose sanctions not just on individuals but on key sectors of Russia’
economy. He did not immediately elaborate on which sectors might be targeted,
but he noted that the moves “could also be disruptive to the global economy.”]
By Will Englund and Kathy Lally,
 |
Russian flag flown in
Russian-backed forces on Wednesday
broke into the Ukrainian naval headquarters
in the key
Crimean city of
|
The vote in the
Russian legislature put some of the final procedural touches on Moscow’s controversial
takeover of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine.
In Washington,
Obama said he was ordering new sanctions against Russia in response to what he
called Crimea’s “illegal” secession referendum and Russia’s “illegitimate move”
to annex Crimea.
“The United States
is today moving . . . to impose additional costs on Russia,” Obama said. He said more
senior Russian officials will be subject to sanctions, as well as other
individuals and a bank that provide “material support” to the Russian
leadership.
Obama added that
he signed a new executive order Thursday that gives the United States authority
to impose sanctions not just on individuals but on key sectors of Russia’
economy. He did not immediately elaborate on which sectors might be targeted,
but he noted that the moves “could also be disruptive to the global economy.”
A fact sheet
released by the Treasury Department listed
20 individuals and the Bank Rossiya as targets of the additional sanctions.
The vote in the
State Duma to annex Crimea was 443 to 1. The measure needed 300 votes to pass.
The bill is
scheduled to be taken up Friday by the upper house, the Federation Council,
where expected approval will make Crimea officially part of the country under
Russian law -- despite the insistence of the United States, Europe and others
that it remain part of Ukraine.
In Crimea on
Thursday, Ukraine’s influence over the disputed region seemed visibly on the
wane, with military bases now under the Russian flag and Ukrainian banks closed
for the time being. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said it was preparing a plan
to withdraw its remaining troops and officials.
Still, there were
hints of a potentially durable conflict, as both Europe and the United States
pledged further financial sanctions against Russia, and officials in Kiev and
Moscow talked of trade, visa and other penalties they might impose against each
other.
Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov, testifying Thursday in favor of the bill in the Duma,
warned Ukraine not to seize property located within its borders of the Russian
state-owned energy giant, Gazprom. He said such a move would have negative
consequences for Ukraine.
“I think that it
is in no one’s interests to begin this battle,” he said. “This could lead to a
quite complex chain reaction, from which I suppose Ukraine will not benefit.”
Lavrov said that
he thought Ukraine’s threat to leave the Commonwealth of Independent States, a
post-Soviet grouping, is essentially a “propaganda” ploy, but he added that
Russia will do nothing to stop it if that’s what Ukraine wishes.
However, Russia’s
sanitary service almost simultaneously announced that Ukrainian livestock will
be barred from Russia if the country leaves the CIS.
The Foreign
Ministry said in a statement posted on its Web site that it regrets Ukraine’s
intention to require Russian visitors to obtain visas.
United Nations
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited Russian President Vladimir Putin in the
Kremlin on Thursday. He said he was deeply concerned about the Crimean crisis.
“We highly
appreciate your efforts,” Putin said, before they began private talks.
The lone Duma
dissenter, Ilya Ponomaryov, later tweeted, “The best intentions have led us to
a big political mistake: I vote against the war.”
European leaders
on Thursday weighed additional sanctions against Russia, a day after Ukrainian
troops were forced to abandon their bases in Crimea and prepared to evacuate
the peninsula.
German Chancellor
Angela Merkel told her parliament that Europe would expand the number of
individuals punished with travel bans and asset freezes for their role in the
Russian takeover of Crimea. But as European Union leaders prepared to meet in
Brussels, there was little sign they would impose the sort of broader financial
penalties that many analysts see as necessary to change Russian behavior.
Administration
officials have repeatedly emphasized their close consultation with Europe, and
the announcement of initial sanctions early this week was coordinated with the
allies.
Speaking from
Brussels, interim Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said he believed
Russia would not stop at Crimea. “It’s crystal clear for us that Russian
authorities will try to move further and escalate the situation in southern and
eastern Ukraine,” Yatsenyuk told Bloomberg.
The gathering came
as the Ukrainian presence in Crimea continued to ebb. Ukrainian banks were
closed Thursday, with signs taped to the doors saying they no longer have
authority to operate in Crimea because they are on foreign territory. They said
they are making arrangements to reopen and depositors will not lose their
savings.
Leonid Polyakov,
deputy minister of defense, said a plan has been prepared to evacuate military
families from Crimea but the troops themselves have not yet been given orders.
Ukraine said on
Wednesday it would seek U.N. support in declaring Crimea a demilitarized zone
so that its troops could be relocated to Ukraine proper, effectively
acknowledging that it had lost the region despite vows it would never cede to
Russia.
In the
announcement, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council,
Andriy Parubiy, said his country would hold joint military exercises with the
United States and Britain. He did not provide details, but a Pentagon spokesman
in Washington said the annual multinational exercises were previously planned
and will be held in the summer.
Parubiy also said
Ukraine would leave the Commonwealth of Independent States, an alliance of 11
nations that were part of the Soviet Union before it broke up
in 1991. It is led by Russia, and Ukraine’s departure echoes steps taken by Georgia after two of its territories broke away in 2008 with the support of Moscow.
in 1991. It is led by Russia, and Ukraine’s departure echoes steps taken by Georgia after two of its territories broke away in 2008 with the support of Moscow.
Russia’s storming
of the military facilities, and the positioning of forces outside another base,
was a tense reminder of how unresolved the situation on the ground remains in
Crimea even as Russia declares its absorption of the region an established fact. Ukrainian troops
largely gave way without resistance Wednesday, though tension may be building
as they face an apparent choice of becoming Russian soldiers and sailors, or
moving from Crimea and maintaining their allegiance to Kiev.
Russia is also
unlikely to agree to the terms of a demilitarized zone, which would require it
to withdraw troops from the region while Ukraine pulls its forces out.
Russia moved
swiftly to step up its occupation of Crimea, a day after President Vladimir
Putin signed a treaty annexing the peninsula. Its most significant action was
the takeover of the Ukrainian navy headquarters in Sevastopol, where pro-Russia
militias and Russian regular troops stormed the base and checked Ukrainians at
the gate as they left toting bags of personal belongings.
The Ukrainian rear
admiral in command was taken out of the compound in a car, and Ukrainian
officials charged that the Russians had taken him hostage.
Ukrainian military
spokesman Vladislav Seleznyov said the commander, Adm. Serhiy Haiduk, and some
other officers and staff were hurt during a scuffle at a military
meteorological unit near the town of Yevpatoria, but those were the only
reported injuries. He would not specify how many military installations in
Crimea remain under Ukrainian control.
Haiduk was
released Thursday morning, according to the office of Ukraine’s acting
president. Several pro- Ukrainian activists also were set free.
At the naval
headquarters in Sevastopol, about 200 attackers rammed through the gate of the
office complex in a truck and raised the tricolor Russian flag. It was
difficult to identify the attackers, but they were well organized and carried
out the takeover without incident. After it was over, men wearing unmarked
uniforms and holding automatic weapons guarded the gate.
Ukrainian
President Oleksandr Turchynov gave Crimean authorities three hours to release
Haiduk and stop harassing the Ukrainian military. If the admiral is not
released, he said in a statement on his Web site, Ukraine will take
“appropriate measures.” The deadline passed without apparent action.
In another sign of
shifting control, Ukrainian Defense Minister Ihor Tenyukh was refused entry to
Crimea when he tried to visit the region Wednesday.
Referring to the
reports of attacks on Ukrainian military personnel in Crimea, Vice President Biden warned
Wednesday, “As long as Russia continues on this dark path, they will face
increasing political and economic isolation.”
Speaking in the
Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, Biden said the United States would respond to any
Russian aggression against its NATO allies. Standing with the presidents of
Lithuania and Latvia, Biden said President Obama plans to seek commitments from
allies to ensure that NATO can safeguard its collective security.
Scrambling for a response
In Moscow, Russian
authorities began issuing passports to residents of Crimea on Wednesday, said
Konstantin Romodanovsky, head of the Federal Migration Service in Russia. He
said Crimeans had become Russian citizens Tuesday.
The Russian
government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, meanwhile, began publishing in Crimea
with an initial print run of 5,000 copies.
For its part, the
Ukrainian government in Kiev approved a plan on procedures to evacuate Crimeans
who want to move to the mainland.
Ukraine, unwilling
to fire shots that would provoke an even greater show of Russian force, has
been left scrambling for a response. The Ukrainian military, with about 130,000
troops, few of them considered combat-ready, is far smaller than Russia’s
845,000-member armed forces.
Military analysts
say Ukraine has enough tanks to inflict some damage but not to overpower
Russia. Last week, Ukrainian officials issued a call for volunteers to join a
national guard, an attempt to harness the fighting spirit that emerged among
demonstrators in Kiev who forced the ouster of pro-Russian president Viktor
Yanukovych last month.
But that national
guard force — expected to number about 40,000 eventually — would operate under
the Interior Ministry, helping to keep order and protect power plants and other
important facilities.
‘It’s a world drama’
In Kiev on
Wednesday, Ukrainians were discussing ways to get more help from Kiev’s friends
in the West. There was little bravado about taking on Russia by themselves.
“It’s not just
Ukraine’s drama,” said Yuriy Shcherbak, a former Ukrainian ambassador to the
United States. “It’s a world drama.”
Vasyl Filipchuk, a
former Ukrainian diplomat who is now a political analyst, said the United
Nations should suspend Russia from membership in the Security Council to
demonstrate that the world is serious about punishing it for annexing Crimea.
“Russia thinks
Ukraine is weak,” Filipchuk said. “Russia thinks the world is weak and frightened.”
Neither Europe nor
the United States has produced the kind of sanctions that would give Russia
serious pause about widening its incursion into Ukraine, he said. The U.S.
sanctions, he said, would do little more than keep a few of Putin’s friends
from going to Miami Beach.
Ukraine hopes to
sign a partnership agreement Friday with the European Union — the very
agreement that Yanukovych refused to sign, setting off the protests that
eventually toppled him.
Sergei Naryshkin,
speaker of the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, said in
Moscow that legislation ratifying the annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol could
be submitted Wednesday and perhaps given a final vote Thursday.
He described the
annexation in grand terms, calling it a new stage in world history and making
an oblique reference to Russia’s staring down malevolent forces unleashed by
the West. “This is a turning point in the confrontation between good and evil,”
he said.
Griff Witte in
London, Carol Morello in Sevastopol and Karen DeYoung in Washington contributed
to this report. Lally reported from Kiev.
