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Al Jazeera America
Ukraine's Crimean peninsula declared itself an independent nation on Monday, a day after its residents voted overwhelmingly to secede and join Russia, while U.S. and EU diplomats discussed sanctions against Moscow for backing the referendum.The United States, the European Union and Ukraine's new government refused to recognize the Crimean referendum, saying it violates Ukrainian and international norms. Moscow, however, considers the vote legitimate. Russian President Vladimir Putin was set to address both houses of parliament Tuesday on the issue.
The Crimean parliament declared that all Ukrainian state property in the region — a strategically located peninsula on the Black Sea — will be nationalized and become the property of the Crimean Republic. Lawmakers also asked the United Nations to recognize it, and they began work on setting up a central bank with money from Russia.
DW
US President Barack Obama on Monday underlined Washington's commitment to working with its European allies to resolve the Ukraine crisis. He also warned that Russia could face further isolation following the Crimean referendum.Obama said he was prepared to impose tougher sanctions on Russia over its alleged incursion into Ukraine's Crimea region.
"If Russia continues to interfere in Ukraine, we stand ready to impose further sanctions," said Obama.
"We'll continue to make clear to Russia that further provocations will achieve nothing except to further isolate Russia and diminish its place in the world."
Obama underlined the US' commitment to NATO allies, saying Vice President Joe Biden was on his way to Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
"As NATO allies, we have a solemn commitment to collective defense," he added.
Spiegel Online
The EU has imposed new sanctions to prevent Vladimir Putin from further escalating the crisis in Ukraine. Berlin has played a leading role in the punitive actions, despite protests from the German business community. There's no turning back for Merkel.Some of the guests attending a ball organized by German companies high above the rooftops of Moscow brought along machine guns and pistols. It was a James Bond-themed evening and the weapons in question were, of course, toys. The party also featured a scantily clad woman slithering in a giant martini glass.
With champagne and cigars, the owners of mid-sized companies toasted the dazzling profits they earn in Russia. At the time, everything all was still rosy in the world of German-Russian business relations. The event took place two Saturdays ago.
Spiegel Online
When Holger Apfel showed up at the Saxony state parliament with a "parliamentary delegation" from Ukraine last May, few had even heard of a party called Svoboda. Apfel, who was head of the right-wing extremist National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) at the time, proudly showed his guests -- Ukrainian parliamentarian Mikhail Golovko and two municipal politicians from the Ukrainian city of Ternopol -- around the parliament building in Dresden.Speaking to other NPD parliamentarians, Apfel called the nationalist Svoboda party "one of the most important European right-wing parties."
NY Times
MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia signed a decree late Monday night formally recognizing Ukraine’s Crimea region as a “sovereign and independent state,” defying the United States and Europe just hours after they imposed their first financial sanctions since the crisis began and laying the groundwork for possible annexation.Mr. Putin’s decree came after the breakaway republic formally declared its independence and asked Russia to annex it in keeping with the results of a referendum conducted Sunday under the watch of Russian troops. The Kremlin announced that Mr. Putin would address both houses of the Russian Parliament on Tuesday, when many expect him to endorse annexation.
The moves showed that Moscow had no intention of backing down in the face of Western sanctions over a dispute that has created a profound rift in East-West relations and threatens the security of borders created after the Soviet Union’s breakup in the early 1990s.