Russian President Vladimir Putin, defying Ukrainian protests and Western sanctions, signed a treaty yesterday making Crimea part of Russia but said he did not plan to seize any other regions of Ukraine.
In a fiercely patriotic address to a joint session of Parliament in the Kremlin, punctuated by standing ovations, cheering and tears, Putin said Crimea’s disputed referendum vote on Sunday, held under Russian military occupation, had shown the overwhelming will of the people to be reunited with Russia.
To the Russian national anthem, Putin and Crimean leaders signed a treaty on making Crimea part of Russia, declaring: “In the hearts and minds of people, Crimea has always been and remains an inseparable part of Russia.” Parliament was expected to begin ratifying the document within days.
The speech drew immediate hostile reactions in Kiev and the West. Ukraine’s foreign ministry said it did not recognise the pact, which showed how Russia posed a threat to international security.
US vice president Joe Biden, on a visit to Poland, called Moscow’s action a land grab and stressed Washington’s commitment to defending the security of Nato allies on Russian borders.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Russia’s move on Crimea was unacceptable to the international community, while British Foreign Secretary William Hague said London had suspended military cooperation with Russia.
You cannot call the same thing black today and white tomorrow
In his speech, Putin lambasted Western nations for what he called hypocrisy, saying they had endorsed Kosovo’s independence from Serbia but now denied Crimeans the same right, he said.
“You cannot call the same thing black today and white tomorrow,” he declared to stormy applause, saying that while he did not seek conflict with the West, Western partners had “crossed the line” over Ukraine and behaved “irresponsibly”.
He said Ukraine’s new leaders, in power since the overthrow of pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych last month, included “neo-Nazis, Russophobes and anti-Semites”.
Putin thanked China for what he called its support, even though Beijing abstained on a UN resolution on Crimea that Moscow had to veto on its own. He said he was sure Germans would support the Russian people’s quest for reunification, just as Russia had supported German reunification in 1990.
And he sought to reassure Ukrainians that Moscow did not seek any further division of their country. Fears have been expressed in Kiev that Russia might move on the Russian-speaking eastern parts of Ukraine, where there has been tension between some Russian speakers and the new authorities.
On Monday, the US and the EU imposed personal sanctions on a handful of officials from Russia and Ukraine accused of involvement in Moscow’s seizure of the Black Sea peninsula, most of whose two million residents are ethnic Russians.