World press on Western reaction on Russia's actions towards Ukraine (March 3, 2014)

World press on Western reaction on Russia's actions towards Ukraine

The Guardian published an article by Paul Lewis, Spencer Ackerman and John Swaine headlined "Western leaders try to halt Russia's advance into Ukrainian territory."

"Western leaders are scrambling to defuse the crisis in Ukraine without shots being fired after the US conceded Moscow had "complete operational control of the Crimean peninsula". The US secretary of state, John Kerry, was due to fly to Kiev overnight in a further attempt to halt Russia's advance into Ukrainian territory, having conceded that Crimea had fallen to Moscow in a bloodless takeover," the article begins.

"Senior US officials dismissed claims that Washington was incapable of exerting influence on the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, but were forced to admit Crimea had been successfully invaded by 6,000 airborne and ground troops in what could be the start of a wider invasion," the authors continue.
As the article's authors describe, "on Monday morning, Russian soldiers were reported to have further cemented their control of the region overnight, having seized a ferry terminal in the Ukrainian port city of Kerch, about 20km from Russia. The soldiers were reported to be Russian-speaking, driving vehicles with Russian number plates, but refused to confirm their identity. Residents of the neighbouring port town Nikolayev reported Russian troops had arrived overnight, intensifying fears that Moscow will send further soldiers beyond the Russian-speaking Crimean peninsula into eastern Ukraine."

"Ukrainian border guards reported a buildup of armoured vehicles near a ferry port on the Russian side of the Kerch channel – a narrow sea channel dividing Russia and Ukraine. A statement from the guard spokesperson said Russian ships had also been moving in and around the city of Sevastopol, where the Russian Black Sea fleet has a base, and that Russian forces had blocked telephone services in some areas," the authors add.

"The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, on Monday justified Russia's military presence in Crimea and called on Kiev to abide by an EU-sponsored deal – which Moscow did not sign – negotiated to end the standoff between pro-European protesters and Russian-backed president Viktor Yanukovych, who has since fled Ukraine.

Speaking at the opening of a month-long session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Lavrov said the use of Russian troops was necessary "until the normalisation of the policital situation" in Ukraine, "the article reads.
"Those who are trying to interpret the situation as a sort of aggression and threatening us with sanctions and boycotts, these are the same partners who have been consistently and vigorously encouraging the political powers close to them to declare ultimatums and renounce dialogue,"the author quote Lavrov's statement. They remind that "earlier he said he had discussed Ukraine with his Chinese counterpart and their views coincided on the situation there. Lavrov said in a statement that the two veto-wielding UN security council members would stay in close contact on the issue."

"In the first punitive action against Moscow over its invasion, the leaders of seven of the G8 major world powers formally suspended preparations for a summit scheduled in Russia. However, in the widely expected announcement, the G7 countries stopped short of demanding that Russia pull back its troops and made no mention of the economic sanctions being touted by the US and UK," the article reads.

"As such, we have decided for the time being to suspend our participation in activities associated with the preparation of the scheduled G8 Summit in Sochi in June, until the environment comes back where the G8 is able to have meaningful discussion," the article's authors quote the statement of the leaders of the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, released late on Sunday. According to the article, this statement, however, "contained no reference to further threats against Russia if it launched a further incursion into Ukrainian territory and no mention of the economic sanctions the US has been threatening."

"The Ukrainian prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, insisted that Crimea remained Ukrainian territory despite the presence of Russian military. During a joint news conference in Kiev with Hague, Yatsenyuk said: "Any attempt of Russia to grab Crimea will have no success at all. Give us some time. For today, no military options [are] on the table."He added that economic and political support were needed urgently," the article reads.

According to the article's authors, "the British foreign ministry has said it is considering a range of economic sanctions against Russia. Germany, meanwhile, has proposed a creating a "contact group" to work on resolving the crisis by opening a channel of communication between Moscow and Kiev."

"Kerry will fly to Kiev to meet Ukraine's new government and display "strong support for Ukrainian sovereignty", a state department official said. However, in Washington there were mounting questions, particularly from Republican opponents of the administration, about the influence Kerry and other officials have over Moscow. Kerry, Obama and other senior officials have spent the last 24 hours attempting to rally an international coalition of countries to condemn Moscow over the invasion, and commit to economic sanctions. Obama spoke on the phone with Merkel, the British prime minister, David Cameron, and the Polish president, Bronisław Komorowski," the article reads.

The authors continue the article by quoting the statement that Kerry made on Sunday: "You just don't in the 21st century behave in 19th-century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped up pretext. It is really a stunning, wilful choice by President Putin to invade another country. Russia is in violation of the sovereignty of Ukraine. Russia is in violation of its international obligations."