Ukraine signs EU trade pact as Russia finalizes Crimea annexation

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk signed the political elements of a trade pact with the European Union on Friday, even as Russian lawmakers finalized annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region. The signing in Brussels signals Europe's solidarity with Ukraine -- and carries additional symbolic force because it was the decision by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in November to ditch the trade pact in favor of closer ties with Russia that triggered the protests that led to his ouster in February and spiraled into the current crisis. It also comes a day after the European Union and the United States slapped sanctions on Russian lawmakers and businessmen; Russia responded with its own list of sanctions against a number of U.S. lawmakers and officials.

Moscow has doggedly pursued its own course even as Western leaders have denounced its actions as violations of Ukraine's sovereignty and a breach of international law. Though Russia insists that its actions are legitimate, Ukraine's interim government has said Kiev will never stop fighting for Crimea. Human Rights Watch said in a statement Friday that it has concluded that the international law of occupation applies to Russian forces in Crimea. "The occupying party is ultimately responsible for violations of international law committed by local authorities or proxy forces," it said. While in Brussels, Yatsenyuk held talks with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso. He said Russia's ratification of the treaty annexing Crimea is less important than the EU trade pact he has signed with EU leaders. "Frankly speaking, I don't care about Russia signing this deal; I care about Ukraine, Ukrainians and our European future," he said. "This deal covers more existential and most important issues, mainly security and defense cooperation." Yatsenyuk said the European Union would "speak in one single and strong voice" to protect its values and defend Ukraine's territorial integrity.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/21/world/europe/ukraine-crisis/

Putin completes Crimea's annexation

(Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin signed laws completing Russia's annexation of Crimea on Friday as investors took fright at a U.S. decision to slap sanctions on his inner circle of money men and security officials. Putin promised to protect a bank partly owned by an old ally, which Washington has blacklisted, and his spokesman said Russia would respond in kind to the latest financial and visa curbs after producing one blacklist of its own. His allies laughed off the U.S. sanctions, but shares on the Moscow stock exchange - which have lost $70 billion of their value this month - fell sharply after President Barack Obama also threatened to target major sectors of the economy if Russia moved on areas of Ukraine beyond the Black Sea peninsula. Obama's national security adviser said the world was reassessing its relationship with Russia and Washington was skeptical of Russian assurances that troop movements on the Ukraine border were no more than military exercises. The financial noose began tightening with Visa and MasterCard stopping processing payments for a Russian bank owned by two brothers on the U.S. blacklist. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Russia might cancel its foreign borrowing for 2014 and raise less domestically if the cost of issuing debt rose. European Union leaders - who like Obama insist Crimea is still part of Ukraine - imposed their own sanctions on 12 people, including Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin and two aides to Putin. Canada sanctioned 14 people. Shaken by the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War, the EU also pledged to cut its reliance on Russian energy and signed a political deal with the pro-Western Ukrainians who took power after Moscow-backed President Viktor Yanukovich's overthrow last month.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/21/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA2K0MC20140321

Putin Keeps Force as Option in Ukraine

MOSCOW—Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he hoped not to send Russian troops into Ukraine but didn't rule it out, accusing the Kiev government of committing "a serious crime" by using the military to quell unrest. Speaking during an annual televised event in which he takes questions from the public, Mr. Putin said the situation in the east—where pro-Russian militants have seized control of 10 cities—could only be resolved through dialogue. He said he held out hope a compromise could be reached in four-way talks being held later Thursday in Geneva. Mr. Putin's comment came following a clash overnight that left three pro-Russian protesters dead and 13 wounded, the bloodiest conflict yet in a military operation launched by Kiev. He noted he had been authorized by Russia's parliament in early March to use force in Ukraine if necessary, "but I really hope that I do not have to exercise this right, and that through political and diplomatic means we will be able to solve the most acute problems in Ukraine today."

 Mr. Putin's comments served to explain the Kremlin's position to a more receptive domestic audience. They came a day after his spokesman complained that Western media had failed to give proper credence to Russia's version of events, saying the country faced a "concrete wall of censorship." Kiev is engaging in its first direct talks with Moscow at a meeting with envoys from the U.S. and European Union in Geneva on Thursday. Moscow has deployed tens of thousands of troops on its border with Ukraine, and has repeatedly said it could send them into Ukraine to protect the local ethnic population.

 Mr. Putin said Ukraine's military effort showed the new government in Kiev was making no effort to respond to the demands of those in the heavily ethnic-Russian region. "Instead of realizing that something has gone wrong in Ukraine and making attempts to start dialogue, they have intensified their threats to use force and have even decided to send tanks and aircraft against the civilian population," Mr. Putin said. "It is another very serious crime on the part of the current Kiev authorities." Ukraine has accused Russia of sending agents into the region to foment unrest in an effort to slice off another piece of Ukrainian territory after annexing Crimea last month. But Mr. Putin insisted that Russia has no forces present in the country. "Such claims are nonsense," he said. He did, however, acknowledge for the first time that Russian troops had moved into Crimea ahead of a secession vote in order to protect "the expression of free will" in the region.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304626304579506741617026658?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304626304579506741617026658.html