West seeks to halt annex of Crimea

THE West is taking steps to increase sanctions against Russia after a referendum in Crimea which many believe is a precursor to annexing the bordering peninsula.

The contested vote on Crimea joining Russia further exacerbated relations with Moscow, which has changed from a wary partner to a diplomatic adversary in the space of a few months.

On Monday, EU foreign ministers will decide whether to impose asset freeze and visa sanctions and, if so, who to target. Further measures could be taken at an EU summit meeting of government leaders starting on Thursday.

'The referendum is illegal and illegitimate and its outcome will not be recognised,' European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a joint statement Sunday.

Crimeans voted overwhelmingly to join former political master Russia as tensions soared in the splintered ex-Soviet nation amid the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War.

Exit polls cited by local officials showed 93 per cent of voters in favour of leaving Ukraine in the most serious redrawing of the map of Europe since Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia.

The options facing voters were either to join Russia or go back to a 1992 constitution that effectively made Crimea into an independent state within Ukraine.

Retaining good relations with Kiev was not an alternative.

Britain, France and Germany echoed the statement by British Foreign Secretary William Hague that Moscow must face 'economic and political consequences.'

EU diplomats were working feverishly over the weekend to set up a list of Russian and Moscow-leaning officials from Ukraine who have been involved in pushing for the southern peninsula's secession and possible annexation. Diplomats said member states arrived at weekend talks with different suggestions, so a common list could be drawn up for Monday's meeting of the 28 foreign ministers to make a final decision.

The joint van Rompuy-Barroso statement said the foreign ministers will 'decide on additional measures' against Russia on Monday.

They would likely include military officials who ordered Ukrainian troops to leave their barracks in Crimea and others who were responsible for breakaway actions there. On the other hand, diplomats said they would shy away from economic operators at the moment.

Depending on developments in Moscow and Ukraine, further sanctions could follow during a two-day summit of EU leaders starting on Thursday.

An EU summit last week suspended talks with Russia on a wide-ranging economic pact and a visa agreement.

On top of that, the EU could move quickly, possibly within a week, to sign the political chapters of a far-reaching association agreement with the provisional government in Kiev, underscoring its support for the new Ukraine government.

EU diplomats in several capitals made it clear the West is unwilling to give up Crimea in the hope of preventing Moscow from moving into eastern Ukraine.

With further unrest in Russia-leaning eastern Ukraine expected, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called on Moscow 'to immediately take measures to avoid a dangerous and useless escalation.'

The United States strongly rejected Crimea's vote on breaking away from Ukraine and called Russian actions in the crisis 'dangerous and destabilising'.

'This referendum is contrary to Ukraine's constitution, and the international community will not recognise the results of a poll administered under threats of violence and intimidation from a Russian military intervention that violates international law,' White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

'The United States has steadfastly supported the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine since it declared its independence in 1991, and we reject the 'referendum' that took place today in the Crimean region of Ukraine.' Mr Carney said Russia had spurned calls for international monitoring, instead escalating its military intervention into Crimea and initiating military exercises on Ukraine's eastern border.

'Russia's actions are dangerous and destabilising,' the spokesman added.

'As the United States and our allies have made clear, military intervention and violation of international law will bring increasing costs for Russia - not only due to measures imposed by the United States and our allies but also as a direct result of Russia's own destabilising actions.'

US Secretary of State John Kerry demanded Moscow pull back its forces to their bases in Crimea in return for constitutional reforms in Ukraine to protect minority rights.

A US State Department official said Mr Kerry told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a phone call that 'as Ukrainians take the necessary political measures going forward, Russia must reciprocate by pulling forces back to base'.

The European Union said it would be deciding on sanctions against Russia on Monday that include the possible seizure of the foreign assets of top Kremlin officials and travel bans for senior ministers.

'We reiterate the strong condemnation of the unprovoked violation of Ukraine's sovereignty ... and call on Russia to withdraw its armed forces to their pre-crisis numbers,' the EU said in a statement.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin - accused of orchestrating the vote as a way of seizing Ukrainian land and punishing its leaders for spurning closer relations with Moscow - said he would 'respect' its outcome.

The Russian tricolour was flown all over Crimea amid a festive atmosphere that reflected a profound mistrust of the new Kiev leaders through the largely Russified southeast of the nation of 46 million people.

'This is a historic moment,' Crimea's self-declared premier Sergiy Aksyonov told reporters after casting his ballot in the regional capital Simferopol.

Cossacks and pro-Moscow militias were patrolling outside polling stations and Russian troops guarded the unofficial border between Crimea and the rest of Ukraine.

Pro-Russian groups in favour of holding a similar referendum in the flashpoint eastern industrial city of Donetsk stormed the local security and legal headquarters demanding the release of their self-appointed 'governor'.

Ukraine's interim President Oleksandr Turchynov - in power since last month's ouster and flight to Russia of Kremlin-backed Viktor Yanukovych - also accused Russia of fanning tensions in eastern Ukraine as a way of justifying an invasion.

'The result has been pre-planned by the Kremlin as a formal justification to send in its troops and start a war that will destroy people's lives and the economic prospects for Crimea,' he said.

There were signs however of a possible easing in Crimea as Ukraine said its forces on the peninsula had reached a temporary truce with Russia to lift the blockade around Ukrainian bases.

If Moscow takes further measures to acerbate the crisis, the EU leaders already have threatened what they have called 'far-reaching consequences for relations in a broad range of economic areas.'

It would set off a tit-for-tat game of sanctions, which the EU hopes would increasingly isolate Russia on the global stage. Moscow says it is convinced economic sanctions would hurt the EU as much as Russia itself.

Bound by tens of billions of dollars in trade, there is plenty to hurt one another.

Russia is the EU's third-largest trading partner, mainly because of oil and gas imports, with the EU being its biggest gas consumer. Germany, for example, gets 35 per cent of its supplies from Russia.

Russia, in turn, buys everything from machinery to cars from Europe, its biggest trading partner, with exports to Russia totalling 123 billion euros ($170 billion) in 2012.

AP/AFP