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Ukraine’s Ousted Leader Urges Military to Resist New Government Air Links Are Severed as Russia Tightens Its Grip on Crimean Peninsula
(about 7 hours later)
MOSCOW — As Russia tightened its grip on Crimea, Ukraine’s ousted president appealed on Tuesday to the country’s military units to refuse to follow the orders of the new interim authorities, declaring that he remained commander in chief and would return to the country as soon as conditions permitted. KIEV, Ukraine — The airport in the regional capital of Simferopol was closed on Tuesday to all flights except those heading to and from Moscow, in the boldest display yet of Russia’s tightening control over Crimea.
Appearing in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don for the first time since the scale of Russia’s intervention in Crimea became evident, the ousted leader, Viktor F. Yanukovych, denounced the West for rushing to recognize and to provide financial assistance to a government he said was a junta. The announcement that air links had been severed between Crimea and the Ukrainian capital of Kiev raised the possibility that the peninsula might be closed off indefinitely from the rest of Ukraine, and it immediately prompted a sellout of tickets for connecting flights on Aeroflot, the Russian national carrier.
“You do not have any legal grounds to provide financial assistance to these bandits,” Mr. Yanukovych said, specifically questioning a $1 billion pledge from the United States to Ukraine. He cited an American law prohibiting aid to governments that take power in a coup. Even as Russia consolidated its grip on the embattled peninsula, diplomatic efforts between the Obama administration and the Kremlin appeared stalled, with the two sides continuing to engage in menacing military exercises and trade threats of economic retaliation.
Mr. Yanukovych’s claims to political legitimacy at home — though supported by few in Ukraine or even in Russia — did little to suggest that a negotiated political solution to the crisis in Ukraine would be found soon. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke by telephone on Tuesday with the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, as they have repeatedly done since the outset of the crisis in Crimea, but neither side reported any substantial progress.
Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, who was elected interim prime minister of Ukraine after the Parliament stripped Mr. Yanukovych of his powers, is scheduled to meet President Obama at the White House on Wednesday, a hugely symbolic gesture of support that underscores how divisive an issue Ukraine’s fate has become between the United States and Russia. Russian forces have been stationed at Crimea’s main airports since late last week, when the military occupation began, and Russian soldiers have recently seized outposts of the border police, effectively taking control of who enters or exits the region.
Mr. Yatsenyuk told Parliament on Tuesday that Russia’s leaders had refused to speak to him by telephone for the past five days. “I am ready to talk to the Russians,” he said, according to the Interfax news agency, “but the Russians probably have other problems.” The move to block most flights came as the ousted Ukrainian president, Viktor F. Yanukovych, who is now living in self-imposed exile in Russia, appealed to the country’s military units to refuse to follow the orders of the new interim authorities, declaring that he remained commander in chief and would return to Ukraine as soon as conditions permitted.
In Simferopol, the Crimean capital, the regional Parliament adopted a resolution declaring that Crimea would become an independent state if the results of a public referendum to be held on Sunday show a majority of voters want to join Russia. In Kiev, the new government announced that it would seek to create a National Guard, composed of perhaps 20,000 military veterans, in an effort to bolster Ukraine’s threadbare military. The plan was announced by the acting president, Oleksandr V. Turchynov, during a session of Parliament and was discussed in a meeting between the first deputy prime minister, Vitaly Yarema, and the British ambassador to Ukraine, Simon Smith.
The pro-Russian regional authorities in Crimea also appeared to sever other links to Ukraine’s capital, canceling incoming flights from Kiev, including one that was turned around after taking off on Tuesday morning. Flights to and from Turkey also were suspended, though Aeroflot flights to Moscow continued. As the flight ban took effect on Tuesday morning, a Ukrainian International Airlines flight was denied permission to land in Simferopol and ultimately returned to Kiev after being rerouted briefly toward the port city of Odessa.
The Ukrainian government in Kiev has said that the Crimean Parliament is acting illegally and should be disbanded, and that the Crimean Constitution itself declares Crimea to be an integral part of Ukraine. Amendments to the Crimean Constitution require approval not only of the Crimean Parliament but also of the Ukrainian national Parliament in Kiev. In Simferopol, the regional Parliament took yet another step toward seceding from Ukraine by adopting a resolution laying out the steps it would take toward becoming part of Russia if a public referendum on the matter on Sunday is approved.
The resolution adopted in Simferopol on Tuesday made no reference to the Crimean Constitution but instead cited the United Nations Charter “and many other international instruments recognizing the right of peoples to self-determination.” It also cited a ruling by the International Court of Justice in July 2010 that supported Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008. In the resolution, the Parliament declared that if the outcome of the referendum ratifies its decision last week to become part of Russia, Crimea would immediately become a sovereign, independent nation and would then formally request to be absorbed into the Russian Federation.
The Russians and Americans continued to begin military exercises or maneuvers and to exchange threats of economic and diplomatic retaliation. A spokesman for Russia’s airborne troops announced a new training exercise of 3,500 paratroopers based in Ivanovo, northwest of Moscow, Interfax reported. The Ukrainian government in Kiev has said that the Crimean Parliament’s actions are illegal and that it should be disbanded.
Mr. Yanukovych has mostly remained in hiding since he fled Ukraine, and his public role in the conflict has been so marginalized that he began his remarks by dismissing rumors of his ill health and even death. “I am alive,” he said, going on to dispute the legality of the actions the Parliament took after a European-brokered agreement on Feb. 21 collapsed. “And I have not been impeached, according to the Ukrainian Constitution.” Crimea, which has enjoyed substantial autonomy since shortly after Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, also has its own Constitution, which declares Crimea to be an integral part of Ukraine. Amendments to the Crimean Constitution require approval not only of the Crimean Parliament but also the national Parliament.
He appeared in the same conference room at a shopping mall in Rostov where he held a news conference on Feb. 28, the day before President Vladimir V. Putin requested and received authorization from the upper house of the Russian Parliament to use military force in Ukraine. The resolution adopted in Simferopol on Tuesday, however, made no reference to the Crimean Constitution and instead cited the United Nations Charter, as well as “many other international instruments recognizing the right of peoples to self-determination.” It also cited a ruling by the International Court of Justice in July 2010 that supported Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008.
Since then, Russian forces, backing self-defense militias, have effectively seized control of Crimea, whose Parliament has declared its independence from Ukraine and scheduled a referendum on Sunday. Mr. Yanukovych did not explicitly address the referendum, but he blamed the new government — which he denounced repeatedly as a junta, filled with extremists and fascists — for actions that were driving Crimea to secede. He spoke with four Ukrainian flags behind him, but left without taking questions. He ended by saying that “one day the country will unite.” That decision was expected to have far-reaching consequences by potentially granting legal support for secessionist movements in places as diverse as northern Cyprus, Somaliland and Transnistria in Moldova.
To the extent that he appears to have any influence over the conflict in Ukraine, Mr. Yanukovych’s claims to the presidency appear to serve Russia’s interest by calling into question the events that led to his ouster, eroding support for the new leaders. Mr. Yanukovych said the new elections to be held on May 25 would not be legitimate, as Russia also has insisted. In the Kosovo case, the positions of Russia and the United States were reversed, with the United States supporting Kosovo’s push for self-determination and declaration of independence from Serbia and Russia insisting that the declaration was a violation of Serbia’s sovereignty. Kosovo was about 90 percent Albanian at the time, while Crimea’s ethnic Russian population, at about 60 percent, is far smaller.
Secretary of State John Kerry called Russian Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov on Tuesday, American and Russian officials reported. But the conversation did not appear to narrow the gap between their positions. On Wednesday, President Obama is scheduled to meet at the White House with the acting prime minister of Ukraine, Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, strongly emphasizing American support for the provisional government in Kiev, which the Kremlin has declared to be illegitimate.
Mr. Kerry said during the call that he was still prepared to meet with Mr. Lavrov, including this week, but the goal needed to be how to protect the sovereignty of Ukraine, said Jen Psaki, the State Department spokeswoman. In an address in the national Parliament on Tuesday before leaving for the United States, Mr. Yatsenyuk said the new Ukrainian government was open to negotiations with Russia.
“We respect Russian interests, and we have said all along that we respect the fact that Russia has interests particularly in Crimea,” said Ms. Psaki, summarizing Mr. Kerry’s position. “But those interests in no way justify military intervention or the use of force.” “On behalf of the Ukrainian government, I declare that Ukraine is ready for transparent negotiations between Russia and Ukraine and to rebuild a new type of relationship between Ukraine and Russia,” he said.
On Saturday, the State Department sent Mr. Lavrov a series of questions that were intended to probe whether the Kremlin was receptive to the American proposals for addressing the crisis. On Monday night, the Russians responded, Ms. Psaki said, but the answers did not signal a shift toward the Western position. At the same time, he demanded that Russia withdraw its forces, and he mocked Kremlin officials who have repeatedly referred to Russia and Ukraine as fraternal nations. “Now it’s clear what a fraternal relationship means,” Mr. Yatsenyuk said. “It means to come with full ammunition in tanks and A.P.C.s into the territory of a sovereign state,” he added, referring to armored personnel carriers. “We do not need such a brotherhood.”
“They largely restate positions that we heard in Paris and Rome,” Ms. Psaki said, referring to Mr. Kerry’s meetings in Europe with Mr. Lavrov last week. After Washington, Mr. Yatsenyuk is scheduled to visit the United Nations on Thursday.
The Obama administration has sought to persuade the Russians to join an international “contact group” to address the crisis, to stop its military advances, halt steps to annex Crimea, admit international observers into the peninsula and meet with the new Ukrainian government, among other steps. European leaders also focused on the crisis on Tuesday. In Warsaw, Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland said the European Union would impose sanctions on Russia in response to the occupation of Crimea beginning Monday, Reuters reported. And Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany was due to visit Poland on Wednesday to discuss Ukraine.
An editorial in Nezavisimaya Gazeta described a possible compromise: Mr. Putin would agree to recognize the new authorities in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, and drop the insistence on a return to the compromise agreement of Feb. 21, in return for some guarantee that Russia would continue to exert influence on Ukrainian politics. Crimea, whose population includes sizable minority populations of ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars, poses a more complicated scenario than the secessionist movements in more monolithic regions like Kosovo or Catalonia in Spain.
In particular, Russia wants Ukraine to adopt a new constitution and a federal system that would grant a higher degree of autonomy to regions, allowing pro-Russian regions in the south and east to pursue their own policies. The editorial did not address the question of Crimea’s secession and possible annexation by Russia, which lawmakers in Moscow have vowed to support. On Tuesday, the main Crimean Tatar organization, which has expressed opposition to breaking away from Ukraine, issued a statement urging a peaceful resolution to the crisis. “We appeal to all the inhabitants of the Crimea — in this difficult time maintain restraint and calm, keep mutual respect and good neighborly feelings, don’t fall for provocations and prevent xenophobia and religious discord,” the group said.
Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, said that such a deal would most likely be acceptable to the Russians, who will be under pressure to recognize the Ukrainian authorities in any case after elections are held. At a news conference in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, Mr. Yanukovych also criticized Western governments for promising financial aid to Ukraine’s provisional government: “You don’t have any legal grounds to provide financial assistance to these bandits.”
As for the government in Kiev, Mr. Trenin said, “A lot will depend on the advice they get from the West, primarily from the United States.” He said that aspects of such a compromise could serve Kiev well, as “a federalized Ukraine could mean keeping Ukraine in one piece,” and as they could benefit from Russian support. Mr. Yanukovych’s remarks were largely greeted with derision in Kiev, where even former political allies turned against him once he fled the country. The authorities have declared him a fugitive who is wanted on charges of mass murder in connection with the deaths of more than 80 demonstrators last month.
“Someone will have to bail them out, they are not in a very strong position,” Mr. Trenin said. “They do not control the country politically, they do not control the south and east, and most importantly, they face a huge economic challenge. These people in the government can see themselves out of power very quickly.” “It was clear his statement was written in the Kremlin,” Valeriy Chaly, deputy director of the Razumkov Ukrainian Center for Economic and Political Studies and a former deputy foreign minister, said of Mr. Yanukovych’s remarks. “People watching were laughing at Yanukovych. When he said he would return, self-defense forces said, ‘We are waiting for you.’ ”
In Washington on Tuesday, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, John O. Brennan, said that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, in citing concerns for the safety of Russian-speaking Ukrainians, is laying the groundwork for possible action in eastern Ukraine.
“He’s laid a sort of a public predicate for possible moves,” Mr. Brennan said at the Council on Foreign Relations. “Has he made a decision?” Mr. Brennan asked. “Well, I guess only Putin knows if he has made that final decision. But what we’ve tried to do is to identify what would be the reasons and how he might, you know, make those moves. What are the factors that he will take into account, and what are the costs that he is willing to incur if he decides to move across the border?”