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An overwhelming 95.5 percent of Crimeans voted Sunday to become part of Russia in a referendum deemed "illegal" by US and UK.With 50 percent of ballots counted, referendum commission chairman Mykhaylo Malyshev said 3.5 percent had voted to remain in Ukraine with wider autonomous powers and 1.0 percent were "spoiled ballots."
Crimea's leader Sergiy Aksyonov said the referendum "will go down in history."
"Today we took a very important decision that will go down in history," Aksyonov tweeted in the wake of the exit poll. He said Crimea's regional government will make a formal application Monday to join the Russian Federation.
"The Supreme Soviet of Crimea will make an official application for the republic to join the Russian Federation at a meeting on March 17," Aksyonov said in a tweet.
Outraged US President Barack Obama hinted at possible additional sanctions on Russia, warning his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that the United States and its allies would "never" recognize Crimea's breakaway vote Sunday.
In a telephone call, Obama told Putin that the vote violated the Ukrainian constitution. "President Obama emphasized that the Crimean 'referendum,' which violates the Ukrainian constitution and occurred under duress of Russian military intervention, would never be recognized by the United States and the international community," the White House said in a statement.
The Kremlin said earlier that the call was initiated by the American side, as relations between Russia and the United States plunged to their lowest point since the Cold War.
Putin told Obama that the referendum was fully legal, "in line with the norms of international law and the UN charter."
For its part, Britain slammed the vote as a "mockery" of democracy and refused to recognize the referendum's outcome.
Speaking in Brussels ahead of a meeting of European Union foreign ministers on Monday, Foreign Secretary William Hague condemned the vote as being in ‘breach’ of the Ukrainian constitution.
Source: AFP | 17-03-2014 - 01:49 Last updated 17-03-2014 |
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USA whines about International Law as if it's something they regularly comply with and as if aiding and abetting an armed fascist revolution against a democratically elected Government is in compliance.
USA whines about International Law as if it's something they regularly comply with and as if aiding and abetting an armed fascist revolution against a democratically elected Government is in compliance.
A woman with her face painted in the colours of the Russian national flag waits for the announcement of preliminary results of today’s referendum on Lenin Square in the Crimean capital of Simferopol March 16, 2014 (Reuters / Thomas Peter)
The referendum in Crimea was fully consistent with international law and UN Charter, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Barack Obama, after the overwhelming majority of Crimeans expressed their willingness to join Russia.The citizens of the peninsula have been given an opportunity to freely express their will and exercise their right to self-determination, the Russian president said in a phone conversation with his US counterpart, according to Kremlin’s press service.
With a record-breaking turnout of over 80 percent, according to preliminary results, over 95 percent of the Crimean population said ‘yes’ to the reunion of the republic with Russia. International observers have not reported any violations or anything resembling any kind of pressure during the vote.
However, Obama said the Unites States and the “international community” will “never recognize” the results of the referendum “administered under threats of violence and intimidation,” according to White House spokesman.
Obama “emphasized that Russia’s actions were in violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and that the US in coordination with its European partners is “prepared to impose additional costs on Russia,” the White House added.
Despite the existing differences in the assessment of the situation in Ukraine, the leaders of Russia and US have agreed that they must jointly seek to help stabilize the situation in the country, the Kremlin said.
“Putin drew attention to the inability and unwillingness of the current Kiev authorities to curb rampant ultra-nationalist and radical groups, destabilizing and terrorizing civilians, including Russian-speaking population, and our fellow citizens,” Kremlin statement reads.
In this context, the possibility of sending an OSCE monitoring mission to Ukraine was discussed, the press office reported. The Russian President believes such a mission should be extended to all Ukrainian regions.