Ukraine ordered full military mobilization for war after gunmen surrounded a Ukraine military base in Crimea and Russia President Vladimir Putin said he had a right to protect Russian interests in the peninsula.
“This is not a threat: this is actually the declaration of war to my country,” said Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, head of a pro-Western government that took power when Russian ally Viktor Yanukovich fled last week.
On Saturday, Crimea’s new leader Sergey Aksyonov asked Putin for more troops for protection and security. Russia’s parliament granted Putin permission to provide the troops.
Over 58% of the Crimean population is ethnic Russian and they immediately took steps to break away from Ukraine after Viktor Yanukovich was deposed. Gunmen seized government buildings and airports and parliament dissolved their government.
President Obama spoke to Putin for 90 minutes and demanded he pull back troops. America is threatening not to tend the G8 Summit in Sochi in June. US Secretary of State John Kerry said Russia may face other problems.
“He may find himself with asset freezes, on Russian business. American business may pull back, there may be a further tumble of the rouble.
“You just don’t in the 21st Century behave in 19th Century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped-up pretext,” Mr Kerry told the CBS program Face the Nation.
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