Putin tells Obama of Russia’s rights in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Barack Obama by telephone that Moscow reserves the right to protect its interests and those of Russian speakers in Ukraine, Reuters reported the Kremlin as saying.
In a statement posted online, the Kremlin said Obama had expressed concern about the possibility of Russian military intervention in Ukraine.
“In response to the concern shown by Obama about the plans for the possible use of Russia’s armed forces on the territory of Ukraine, Putin drew attention to the provocative, criminal actions by ultra-nationalists, in essence encouraged by the current authorities in Kiev,” the statement said.

“The Russian President underlined that there are real threats to the life and health of Russian citizens and compatriots on Ukrainian territory. Vladimir Putin stressed that if violence spread further in the eastern regions of Ukraine and in Crimea, Russia reserves the right to protect its interests and those of Russian speakers living there.”
Ukraine’s army has been put on alert, the country’s interim president Oleksanr Turchynov said Saturday, after Russia’s parliament approved the deployment of troops into the former soviet state, Agence France-Presse reported.
Turchynov made the announcement in a somber televised address to the nation, flanked by Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who said he had spoken to his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev.
Putin has won the approval from the Russian upper house of parliament to deploy troops in Ukraine on Saturday.
But the Kremlin said that a decision has not yet taken on sending troops to Ukraine.
“This is the point of view of the Federation Council (upper house). It is the president who takes the decision. For the moment, this decision has not been taken,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the RIA Novosti news agency.
Putin earned the approval after the Federation Council began debating the request.
The extraordinary session began with a speech by Putin’s envoy Grigory Karasin on the need to approve the request, which was also backed by the heads of the Federation Council’s defense and foreign affairs committees.
Unlike most legislation in Russia, the use of armed forces abroad only requires the approval of the rubber-stamp Federation Council without any need for a preliminary approval from the State Duma lower house.
Meanwhile, Karasin said the approval doesn’t mean that Russia will send troops to Ukraine quickly.
“The consent which the president received does not mean literally that this right will be used quickly,” said Karasin.

Russian troops already in Crimea

On Saturday, Russian troops took over Crimea, the Associated Press reported.
The newly installed government in Kiev was powerless to react to the action by Russian troops based in the strategic region and more flown in, aided by pro-Russian Ukrainian groups.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Igor Tenyukh on Saturday aaccused Russia of sending 30 armored personnel carriers and 6,000 additional troops into Crimea.
Russia’s escalation has also angered Ukrainian nationalists.
Ukraine’s nationalist Svoboda party and the far-right Pravy Sektor group, which both played a prominent role in protests that rocked the country, called Saturday for a “general mobilization.”
“It’s war! Ukrainian society must mobilize as much as possible,” Svoboda said in a statement, calling on Ukraine’s interim president Oleksandr Turchynov to consider the country as being in a "state of war" and to "declare general mobilization.”......................http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2014/03/01/Crimea-appeals-to-Russia-to-restore-peace.html
1/3/14
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Related:

• Readout of President Obama’s Call with President Putin. -The White House/Situation in Ukraine. -John Kerry (Press Statement)