Another reason to believe Putin is an narcissistic sociopath
Kremlin Says It Won't Ignore Crimean PM's Call For Help
http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-crimea-forces-russian/25281291.html
By RFE/RL
Last updated (GMT/UTC): 01.03.2014 11:46
Russian President Vladimir Putin's office says Moscow will not ignore a request for peacekeeping support made by Serhiy Aksyonov, the pro-Russian prime minister of Ukraine's Crimea region.
Aksyonov appealed to Putin for help on March 1, and also also declared that all military, police, border guards, and security services in Crimea should answer only to his orders. He said commanders who disagree should resign.
He said commanders who disagree should resign.
Aksyonov also declared a referendum of the peninsula's future had been pushed forward by nearly two months to March 30.
Speaking on March 1 at the first cabinet session of his newly established Crimean regional government, Aksyonov said the referendum was being expedited "due to necessity."
Voters will be asked whether they agree with the statement: "The Autonomous Republic of Crimea has state independence and is a part of Ukraine on the basis of agreements and accords."
Aksyonov was appointed on February 27 by the Crimean parliament amid soaring tensions with the new Ukrainian leadership that took power in Kyiv last week.
Russia's State Duma has asked Putin to "take measures to stabilize the situation" in Crimea and "use all available means to protect the people of Crimea from tyranny and violence."
Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin said the Duma Council adopted an appeal on March 1 urging Putin to take action. It also said legitimate, democratic elections in Ukraine were now impossible.
Naryshkin said Russian lawmakers were concerned about reports of "unknown armed individuals" attempting to take over local government buildings in Simferopol.
Armed men believed to be Russian troops deployed at key airports in Crimea on February 28. On March 1, the airspace around Simferopol International Airport in Crimea was reportedly closed.
Meanwhile, there were reports overnight of Russian transport aircraft carrying hundreds on Russian soldiers into those facilities.
At a cabinet meeting in Kyiv on March 1, Ukrainian Defense Minister Ihor Tenyukh accused Russia of sending 6,000 troops and 30 armored personnel carriers into Crimea since February 28 "without warning or Ukraine's permission, in defiance of the principle of noninfringement of state borders."
For his part, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk issued a new appeal for Russia to halt all of its military movements in Crimea.
Yatsenyuk also said Ukraine refused to respond with force to Russian "provocations."
Speaking during a televised cabinet meeting in Kyiv, Yatsenyuk said that "the inadequate presence of Russian troops on Ukrainian territory is a provocation, and Russian attempts to make Ukraine react with force have failed."
UDAR party Vitali Klitschko called on Russia to "build ties with Ukraine on the basis of mutual respect, not on the basis of force."
Acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov has accused Russia of aggression in Crimea and called on Putin to stop "provocations" and pull back military forces.
Obama: Crimea Will 'Cost' Kremlin
U.S. President Barack Obama has warned "there will be costs" for Moscow for any Russian military intervention in Ukraine.
Obama added, "we are now deeply concerned by reports of military movements taken by the Russian Federation inside of Ukraine."
On February 28, officials of Ukraine's new government accused Russian troops of launching an illegal military operation in Crimea and seizing airports in Simferopol and Sevastopol.
A Ukrainian government official in Kyiv also said that 13 Russian planes had landed at an airport in Sevastopol.
The official said the planes carried a total of some 2,000 soldiers. That report has not been independently confirmed.
Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin would not confirm or deny the reports of Russian soldiers involved in those actions at the airports or other places in Crimea.
Ukraine has officially protested to Russia over alleged violations of Ukrainian airspace by Russian aircraft on the Crimean Peninsula.
An Al-Jazeera reporter said some mobile-phone and SMS access provided by UKRTelekom was not available in Crimea. The reporter added that the local TV and radio station TRK Krim is surrounded by armed gunmen.
Russia's Black Sea Fleet, which is based in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, said all movements of its forces in Crimea were carried out in accordance with its basing agreement with Ukraine.
Churkin reiterated that claim to reporters at the United Nations.
With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, ITAR-TASS, Interfax, and UNIAN
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