Russian military seizes Crimea

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine - Russian troops took over the strategic Crimean Peninsula on Saturday without firing a shot. The newly installed government in Kiev was powerless to react, and despite calls by U.S. President Barack Obama for Russia to pull back its forces, Western governments had few options to counter Russia’s military moves.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sought and quickly got his parliament’s approval to use its military to protect Russia’s interests across Ukraine. But while sometimes violent pro-Russian protests broke out Saturday in a number of Russian-speaking regions of eastern Ukraine, Moscow’s immediate focus appeared to be Crimea.

Putin’s request, largely a formality, acknowledged publicly for the first the Kremlin’s readiness to intervene militarily in Ukraine.

Even as Putin submitted his request to the Senate, formally called the Federation Council, it was clear that forces allied with Moscow were largely in control of the disputed peninsula.

The fast-moving events began in the morning, when the pro-Russia prime minister of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, declared that he had sole control over the military and the police, and appealed to Putin for Russian help in safeguarding the region. He also said a public referendum on independence would be held March 30.

The Kremlin quickly issued a statement saying that Aksyonov’s plea “would not be ignored,” and within hours the upper chamber of Russia’s parliament had authorized military action.

The parliament also asked Putin to withdraw Russia’s ambassador to the United States.

Tensions increased when Ukraine’s acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, made a late-night announcement Saturday that he had ordered the country’s armed forces to be at full readiness.

“The Ukrainian state will protect all citizens no matter in which region they live in and which language they speak or which church they attend,” Turchynov said.

Speaking live on Ukrainian TV, Turchynov said he had also ordered stepped-up security at nuclear power plants, airports and other strategic infrastructure.

Ignoring Obama’s warning Friday that “there will be costs” if Russia intervenes militarily, Putin raised the stakes in the conflict over Ukraine’s future, evoking memories of Cold War brinkmanship.

After Russia’s parliament approved Putin’s motion, U.S. officials held a high-level meeting at the White House to review Russia’s military moves in Ukraine. The White House said Obama spoke with Putin by telephone for 90 minutes and expressed his “deep concern” about “Russia’s clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The White House said Obama told Putin that the United States is calling on Russia “to de-escalate tensions by withdrawing its forces back to bases in Crimea and to refrain from any interference elsewhere in Ukraine.”

The Kremlin said Putin, in turn, emphasized to Obama the existence of real threats to the life and health of Russian citizens living in Ukraine and that Russia has the right to protect its interests there.

A statement from the Kremlin indicated that Russia might send its troops not only to Crimea but also to predominantly ethnic Russian regions of eastern Ukraine.

“Vladimir Putin emphasized that, in the case of a further spread in violence in eastern regions [of Ukraine] and Crimea, Russia maintains the right to protect its interests and the Russian-speaking population that lives there,” the Kremlin statement said.

Obama told Putin that the appropriate way to address concerns about the treatment of ethnic Russian and minority-group populations in Ukraine is to do so peacefully through direct contact with Ukraine’s new government and through international observers.

He said the U.S. was prepared to help mediate such a dialogue.

In a statement afterward, the White House said the U.S. will suspend its participation in preparatory meetings for June’s G-8 summit in Sochi, Russia, warning that Russia’s “continued violation of international law will lead to greater political and economic isolation.”

Canada said it was recalling its ambassador from Moscow and, like the United States, suspending preparations for the G-8 meeting.

After speaking with Putin, Obama also discussed the situation in separate calls with French President Francois Hollande and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Hours earlier, Obama’s national security team huddled at the White House to get updates on the situation and discuss policy options. Obama did not participate. Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry participated by videoconference.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke by telephone with his Russian counterpart and stressed that, “without a change on the ground,” Russia risks further instability in the region, isolation in the international community and an escalation that would threaten European and international security, the Pentagon said.

Kerry said he spoke with Turchynov on Saturday morning “to assure him he had the strong support of the United States.” Kerry also convened a call with his counterparts from around the world to coordinate on next steps.

Kerry said he also commended “the new government for showing the utmost restraint in the face of the clear and present danger to the integrity of their state, and the assaults on their sovereignty.”

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on Saturday called on the president “to rally our European and NATO allies to make clear what costs Russia will face for its aggression and to impose those consequences without further delay.”

McCain, who often has pushed for Obama to be more forceful in responding to international crises such asthe civil war in Syria, stopped short of calling for military action.

NATO announced a meeting set for today of the North Atlantic Council, the alliance’s political decision-making body, as well as a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the allies will “coordinate closely” on the situation in Ukraine, which he termed “grave.”

The United Nations Security Council met in an open, televised session for about a half-hour Saturday afternoon after private consultations, despite initial objections from Russia to an open session. The council heard speeches from a U.N. deputy secretary-general and several ambassadors, but did not take any action.

Ukraine’s Ambassador to the U.N. Yuriy Sergeyev asked the Security Council “to do everything possible now” to stop what he called Russian “aggression.” Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said the government in Kiev needs to get away from “radicals” and warned, “Such actions they’re taking could lead to very difficult developments, which the Russian Federation is trying to avoid.” He said Russia was intervening at the request of pro-Russian authorities in the autonomous Crimea region that is part of Ukraine.

In Georgia, Russian troops quickly routed the Georgian military after it tried to regain control over the separatist province of South Ossetia thathas close ties with Moscow.

The latest moves came after days of scripted, bloodless turmoil on the peninsula, the scene of centuries of wars and seen by Moscow as a crown jewel of the Russian and Soviet empires.

What began Thursday with the early-morning takeover of the regional parliament building by mysterious troops continued Saturday afternoon as dozens of those soldiers - almost certainly Russian - moved into the streets around the parliamentary complex and seized control of regional airports, amid street protests by pro-Russian Crimeans calling for Moscow’s protection from the new government in Kiev.

That government came to power last month in the wake of months of pro-democracy protests against a now-fugitive president, Viktor Yanukovych, and his decision to turn Ukraine toward Russia, its longtime patron, instead of the European Union. Despite the calls for Moscow’s help, there has been no sign of ethnic Russians facing attacks in Crimea or elsewhere in Ukraine.

Obama on Friday called on Russia to respect the independence and territory of Ukraine and not try to take advantage of its neighbor’s political upheaval.

He said such action by Russia would represent a “profound interference” in matters he said should be decided by the Ukrainian people. He has not said, however, how the U.S. could pressureMoscow to step back from its intervention.

On Friday, Ukraine accused Russia of a “military invasion and occupation” in Crimea, where Russia’s Black Sea fleet is based. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk called on Moscow “to recall their forces, and to return them to their stations,” according to the Interfax news agency. “Russian partners, stop provoking civil and military resistance in Ukraine.”

Ukraine is ready to fight for its sovereignty, Yatsenyuk said at a news conference in Kiev on Saturday. The government is taking “all measures” to ensure peace, stability and unity, Yatsenyuk said.

Ukraine is diverting funds for the military, Yatsenyuk said. Putin had no reason to request the use of force against Ukraine as Russians aren’t under threat in the country shaken by an uprising, Turchynov said.

Ukraine’s defense minister said Saturday that Russia has sent 6,000 more soldiers into Crimea in the past 24 hours, while Aksyonov, who asked Russia for help, said Russian troops were guarding key buildings there, Interfax news service reported.

Ukraine’s population of 46 million is divided in loyalties between Russia and Europe, with much of western Ukraine advocating closer ties with the European Union while eastern and southern regions look to Russia for support. Crimea, a semi-autonomous region that Russia gave to Ukraine in the 1950s, is mainly Russian-speaking.

In his address to the parliament, Putin said the “extraordinary situation in Ukraine” was putting at risk the lives of Russian citizens and military personnel stationed at the Crimean naval base that Moscow has maintained since the Soviet collapse.

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was freed a week ago after more than 2½ years in prison, was reported to be heading to Moscow for a meeting with Putin on Monday, though her spokesman denied that. Putin has had good ties with Tymoshenko in the past, and he may look to her for a possible compromise.

In a statement posted onher party’s website, Tymoshenko urged the U.N. Security Council to meet in Kiev and asked the EU leaders to convene a meeting in Crimea. She urged the West to help protect Ukraine’s territorial integrity, asked Ukrainians to remain calm and voiced hope that diplomacy will succeed.

Putin’s parliamentary motion loosely refers to the “territory of Ukraine” rather than specifically to Crimea, raising the possibility that Moscow could use military force in other Russian-speaking areas in eastern and southern Ukraine.

Pro-Russian protests were reported Saturday in the eastern cities of Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk and the southern port of Odessa. In Kharkiv, 97 people were injured in clashes between pro-Russia demonstrators who flushed supporters of the new Ukrainian government out of the regional government building and hoisted the Russian flag on top of it, according to the Interfax news agency.

Dmitri Trenin, the director of Carnegie Moscow Center, said in a commentary posted on its website that Putin could be seeking to “include Crimea within the Russian Federation and eastern and southern regions of Ukraine forming a separate entity integrated with Russia economically and aligned with it politically.”

Crimea only became part of Ukraine in 1954 when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev transferred jurisdiction from Russia, a move that was a mere formality when both Ukraine and Russia were part of the Soviet Union. The Soviet breakup in 1991 meant Crimea landed in an independent Ukraine.

Russia put pressure on Ukraine from another direction when a spokesman for state gas company Gazprom said that Ukraine owed $1.59 billion in overdue bills for imported gas. Sergei Kuprianov said in a statement carried by Russian news wires that the gas arrears would endanger a recent discount granted by Russia.

The Russian payment demand and loss of the discount would accelerate Ukraine’s financial crisis. The country is almost broke and seeking emergency credit from the International Monetary Fund.

The tensions barely touched everyday life in Simferopol, the regional capital of Crimea, or anywhere on the peninsula. Crimea’s airports - civilian and military - were closed to air traffic, but trains and cars were moving to and from the Ukrainian mainland. The civilian airport in Simferopol was reopened late Saturday night.

Information for this article was contributed by Tim Sullivan, Vladimir Isachenkov, Karl Ritter, David McHugh, Julia Subbotovska, Cara Anna, Darlene Superville and Julie Pace of The Associated Press; by Alison Smale and David M. Herszenhorn of The New York Times; by Daryna Krasnolutska, Derek Wallbank, Silla Brush, Volodymyr Verbyany, Ekaterina Shatalova, David Lerman, Roger Runningen and Sangwon Yoon of Bloomberg News.