KERCH, Ukraine (AP) — Pro-Russian troops controlled a ferry terminal on the easternmost tip of Ukraine’s Crimea region close to Russia on Monday, intensifying fears that Moscow will send even more troops into the strategic Black Sea region in its tense dispute with its Slavic neighbor.Ukraine’s prime minister called on the West for political and economic support and said Crimea remained part of his country — but conceded there were “for today, no military options on the table.”The seizure of the terminal in the Ukrainian city of Kerch about 20 kilometers (12 miles) by boat to Russia, comes as the US and European governments try to figure out ways to halt and reverse the Russian incursion.Early on Monday, soldiers were operating the terminal, which serves as a common departure point for many Russian-bound ships. The men refused to identify themselves, but they spoke Russian and the vehicles transporting them had Russian license plates.Russia has taken effective control of the Crimean peninsula without firing a shot. Now, the fears in the Ukrainian capital and beyond are that that Russia might seek to expand its control by seizing other parts of eastern Ukraine. Senior Obama administration officials said the U.S. now believes that Russia has complete operational control of Crimea, a pro-Russian area of the country, and has more than 6,000 troops in the region.Ukrainian border guards reported Russian troops and military planes flowing into Crimea on Monday.
Over the last 24 hours, 10 Russian combat helicopters and eight military cargo planes have landed on the flashpoint Black Sea peninsula, the guards said in a statement, while four Russian warships have been in the port of Sevastopol since Saturday.Kiev received no warning regarding the troop movements, even though that is required by the international laws regarding the stationing of Russia’s Black Sea navy in Crimea.
Russian fighter jets also violated Ukrainian airspace during the night, Reuters reported, citing the Russian Interfax news agency. The report said Ukraine scrambled its own fighter jets.Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk insisted that Crimea remains Ukrainian territory despite the presence of Russian military.
“Any attempt of Russia to grab Crimea will have no success at all. Give us some time,” he said at a news conference with British Foreign Secretary William Hague, who is visiting Kiev.“For today, no military options (are) on the table,” he said, adding that what they urgently need is an economic and political support.
“Real support. Tangible support. And we do believe that our Western partners will provide this support,” he said.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who address the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, harshly criticized threats of “sanctions and boycotts” over his country’s role in the spiraling crisis in Ukraine, AFP reported.“Those who try to interpret the situation as a type of aggression and threaten sanctions and boycotts, are the same who consistently have encouraged (Ukrainians to) refuse dialogue and have ultimately polarized Ukrainian society,” he said.Tension between Ukraine and Moscow rose sharply after Ukraine’s pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was pushed out by a protest movement among people who wanted closer ties with the European Union. Yanukovych fled to Russia after more than 80 demonstrators were killed near Kiev’s central square. He says he is still president. Since then, troops that Ukraine says are Russian soldiers have moved into Crimea, patrolling airport, smashing equipment at an airbase and besieging Ukrainian military installations.Outrage over Russia’s military moves has mounted in world capitals, with US Secretary of State John Kerry calling on President Vladimir Putin to pull back from “an incredible act of aggression.” Kerry is to travel to Ukraine on Tuesday.British Foreign Secretary Hague laid a bouquet of flowers on Kiev’s Independence Square where the slain demonstrators are being commemorated. Hague said it was urgent to get Russia and Ukraine “in direct communication with each other.”Hague said on the BBC that Moscow would face “significant costs” for taking control of Crimea.
“If Russia continues on this course we have to be clear this is not an acceptable way to conduct international relations,” Hague said. “There are things that we can do about it and must do about it.”He suggested economic sanctions were possible. “The world cannot just allow this to happen,” he said. But he ruled out any military action.So far, Ukraine’s new government and the West have appeared powerless to counter Russia’s tactics.Putin has defied calls from the West to pull back his troops, insisting that Russia has a right to protect its interests and those of Russian-speakers in Crimea and elsewhere in Ukraine. His confidence is matched by the knowledge that Ukraine’s 46 million people have divided loyalties. While much of western Ukraine wants closer ties with the 28-nation European Union, its eastern and southern regions like Crimea look to Russia for support.Faced with the Russian threat, Ukraine’s new government has moved to consolidate its authority, naming new regional governors in the pro-Russia east, enlisting the support of the country’s wealthy businessmen and dismissing the head of the country’s navy after he declared allegiance to the pro-Russian government in Crimea.NATO held an emergency meeting in Brussels and the US, France and Britain debated the possibility of boycotting the next Group of Eight economic summit, to be held in June in Sochi, the host of Russia’s successful Winter Olympics. On Sunday evening, the White House issued a joint statement on behalf of the Group of Seven saying they are suspending participation in the planning for the upcoming summit because Russia’s advances in the Ukraine violate the “principles and values” on which the G-7 and G-8 operate.Russia has long wanted to reclaim the lush Crimean Peninsula, part of its territory until 1954. Russia’s Black Sea Fleet pays Ukraine millions annually to be stationed at the Crimean port of Sevastopol and nearly 60 percent of Crimea’s residents identify themselves as Russian.Times of Israel staff, AFP and Associated Press writers David McHugh in Kiev and Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.

Baird rules out military response to Soviet-style intervention in Ukraine

By Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press | -MAR 3,14-Yahoonews
OTTAWA - The Harper government ramped up its denunciations of Russia on Sunday, threatening the potential for more sanctions even as it ruled out western military intervention to force Russian troops out of Ukraine.Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird used some of the toughest language yet, describing Russia's incursion as "old Soviet-style" aggression and saying President Vladimir Putin's attempts to justify it are "absurd and ridiculous."But, while he spoke of the possibility of further sanctions, including expelling Russia's ambassador to Canada, he ruled out a military response to the crisis by western nations."I don't think there's anyone talking about western military intervention, none of our friends or allies," Baird said Sunday in an interview with Global's West Block."What we are doing is working together to say in no uncertain terms that this is completely unacceptable and to condemn (it) in the strongest language possible."That message was echoed in a statement issued late Sunday by members of the G7, as well as the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission.They called Russia's actions a "clear violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, in contravention of Russia’s obligations under the UN Charter and its 1997 basing agreement with Ukraine."All vowed to temporarily boycott preparatory meetings of ministers and officials for the G8 summit, which is supposed to be held in June in Sochi, where the Winter Olympic games just ended. Canada had already announced its decision to pull out of the meetings on Saturday.Baird's own language Sunday was harsh. He dismissed Russian arguments that it needs to protect its Black Sea naval fleet, which is based in Sevastopol on Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, and the Russian-speaking population in that region."There is absolutely no justification whatsoever," Baird said."The claims that President Putin puts forward are absurd and ridiculous. He has no right to invade another country, a neighbouring country that's struggling for freedom and democracy."The excuses and the rhetoric that's coming out of Moscow are unacceptable. No one is buying them in the western world and they make President Putin look ridiculous."
On Saturday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Canada is withdrawing its ambassador from Russia."Next month there's a G8 foreign ministers' meeting and if (Putin) continues with this provocative action, there's certainly no way I or Canada would want to have anything to do with Russian world leadership," Baird said.Whether the G8 leaders' summit itself goes ahead will be up to Putin, he added, stressing that Russia must be made to realize that its actions "will have a major effect on Russia's relationship, not just with Canada but the entire free and democratic world."Baird was returning Saturday from Kyiv, where he led a Canadian government delegation to show support for Ukraine's new pro-western government.In his absence, he said his deputy minister called in Russia's ambassador to Canada, Georgiy Mamedov, and reamed him out "in the strongest terms certainly in my time at Foreign Affairs."He did not rule out expelling the ambassador."We'll obviously be revisiting this on an hour by hour basis," he said, adding that Canada wants to act "in unison" with its allies.At a later news conference in Toronto, Baird did not rule out further sanctions, including freezing Russian assets, trade and investment penalties and a ban on visas.
"It's certainly something we'll consider in the next few days."NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, who was briefed by Harper on the situation Saturday, threw his whole-hearted support behind the government's response to the crisis."I think that Canada's been getting it right in terms of our very strong reaction to what the Russians have done," he told a news conference in Toronto."It's absolutely unacceptable to be violating Ukraine's sovereignty in this way and the prime minister and I have spoken and he has my full support with the steps that have been taken so far."However, two of Canada's most distinguished former diplomats dismissed the Harper government's response thus far as "bluster" and meaningless "gestures."Jeremy Kinsman, former ambassadors to Russia, Britain, Italy and the European Union, and Paul Heinbecker, former ambassador to the United Nations, were particularly critical of the government's decision to withdraw Canada's ambassador to Russia and to threaten Mamedov's expulsion. They said a crisis like this is precisely when high-level diplomatic contact should be maintained, not cut off.In an interview, Mulcair said it would be a mistake to expel Mamedov at this point."To the extent that we have to keep some channel of communication open, I think that it would be a mistake to consider expelling him at this stage with what's now happening," he told The Canadian Press.Baird significantly turned down the volume on his own rhetoric at the later news conference, adopting a more diplomatic tone. For instance, rather than repeat his assertion that Putin's explanations for the invasion are absurd and ridiculous, he said: "We just disagree in the strongest of terms with the justifications, with the so-called justifications that are being put forward."He said Canada is not currently considering expelling the Russian ambassador, stressing the need "to be careful that we take measured responses that actually will support the Ukrainian people." And he added: "Our first goal is to de-escalate the situation."On Saturday, Harper spoke with U.S. President Barack Obama and the two agreed to "co-ordinate closely" their response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Harper has also spoken to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron.On Sunday, Harper spoke to Paul Grod, president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, who is in Ukraine.A senior government official said Harper reiterated the need for Russian troops to withdraw and emphasized that Canada recognizes the legitimacy of the transitional Ukrainian government, installed after massive pro-democracy protests forced pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych to flee. Grod thanked the prime minister for Canada's leadership, the official said.Russian Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev, however, called the new government illegitimate and warned that continued "lawlessness" in Ukraine will end in revolution and bloodshed.
In his statement Saturday, Harper said Canada also supports the United Nations sending international monitors to Ukraine and is involved in multilateral talks to put together a financial aid package for Ukraine, which is on the brink of bankruptcy.Employment Minister Jason Kenney told CTV's Question Period on Sunday that Canada has indicated "support in principle" for an International Monetary Fund aid package. He said "basic economic stability for Ukraine at this sensitive moment is critically important."Despite the sanctions, Canada does not intend to withdraw its athletes from the Paralympics, set for March 7-16 in Sochi."We don't want the athletes to pay the price for this," Baird told Global.However, he said no government representative will attend the games "to somehow glorify Russia's time in the spotlight."
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