There will be no war between Russia and Ukraine, the speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament said on Friday.
"It's
complete nonsense, it absolutely does not reflect our intentions, the
feelings of empathy and the pain we feel for the Ukrainian people," said
Valentina Matviyenko, head of the Russian Federation Council.
"We are absolutely sure that there will never be a war between the two brotherly nations."
Crimea's
parliament has the right to hold a referendum on the region's future
status, the speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament said on
Friday.
The parliament in Ukraine's
southern Crimea region said on Thursday it would hold a referendum on
whether the region should join Russia on March 16.
"Yesterday
we learned about the historic decision taken by the Crimean parliament
to hold a referendum on accession, on entry into the Russian
Federation," said Valentina Matviyenko, head of the Russian Federation
Council.
"Without a doubt, the Crimean
parliament, as a legitimate authority, has that right ... The sovereign
right of the people to determine their future."
President
Vladimir Putin rebuffed a warning from US President Barack Obama over
Moscow's military intervention in Crimea, saying on Friday that Russia
could not ignore calls for help from Russian speakers in Ukraine.
After
an hour-long telephone call, Putin said in a statement that Moscow and
Washington were still far apart on the situation in the former Soviet
republic, where he said the new authorities had taken "absolutely
illegitimate decisions on the eastern, southeastern and Crimea regions.
"Russia cannot ignore calls for help and it acts accordingly, in full compliance with international law," Putin said.
The
most serious east-west confrontation since the end of the Cold War
escalated on Thursday when Crimea's parliament, dominated by ethnic
Russians, voted to join Russia. The region's government set a referendum
for March 16 - in just nine days' time.
European
Union leaders and Obama denounced the proposed referendum as
illegitimate, saying it would violate Ukraine's constitution.
Before
calling Putin, Obama announced the first sanctions against Russia since
the start of the crisis, ordering visa bans and asset freezes against
so far unidentified persons deemed responsible for threatening Ukraine's
sovereignty.
Japan endorsed the
Western position that Russia's actions constitute "a threat to
international peace and security" on the crisis after Obama spoke to
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The EU,
Russia's biggest economic partner and energy customer, adopted a
three-stage plan to try to force a negotiated solution but stopped short
of immediate sanctions.
Brussels and
Washington also rushed to strengthen the new authorities in economically
shattered Ukraine, announcing both political and financial assistance.
IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES
In
their telephone call, Obama said he urged Putin to accept the terms of a
potential diplomatic solution, and said the dispute over Crimea could
be resolved in a way that took account of Russia's legitimate interests
in the region.
Putin was defiant on
Ukraine, where he said pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich had been
overthrown in an "anti-constitutional coup" last month. But he stressed
what he called "the paramount important of Russian-American relations to
ensure stability and security in the world", the Kremlin said.
"These
relations should not be sacrificed for individual differences, albeit
very important ones, over international problems," Putin said.
He
maintained Moscow was not behind the seizure of Crimea, home of
Russia's Black Sea Fleet. Russia says the troops without national
insignia that have surround Ukrainian bases are "local self-defense
units". The West has ridiculed this argument.
After
talks in Rome on Thursday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was personally delivering
proposals to Putin to end the crisis.
Kerry
said the executive order signed by Obama on Thursday provided a legal
framework for imposing sanctions but also left open the door for
dialogue.
The 28-nation EU welcomed
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk to its emergency summit, even
though Kiev is neither a member nor a recognized candidate to join the
bloc, and agreed to bring forward the signing of the political parts of
an agreement on closer ties before Ukraine's May 25 elections.
"No
one will give up Crimea to anyone," Yatseniuk told a news conference in
Brussels, while Ukraine's acting president, Oleksander Turchinov,
called the planned referendum "a farce, a fake, a crime".
The
European Commission said Ukraine could receive up to 11 billion euros
($15 billion) in the next couple of years provided it reaches agreement
with the International Monetary Fund, which requires painful economic
reforms like ending gas subsidies.
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