(Vatican Radio) Russia and Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula have agreed to make Crimea
part of Russia, despite Western outrage and threats of more sanctions.
Gold
plated doors opened at a pompous ceremony in the Kremlin's St. George Hall, where
Russian President Vladimir Putin walked to the stage to address both houses of Russia's
parliament, at what he called a historic moment for his nation.
The president
explained why he agrees that Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula should join join Russia.
"We are here for a historic occasion", he said, adding that Crimea's referendum on
whether to become part of Russia had been held "in accordance with all democratic
procedures and international norms."
President Putin claimed, "the people
of Sevastopol and Crimea had turned to Russia to defend their rights and lives." And,
"We could not abandon Crimea and its citizens. That would have been treason," he stressed
in a fiercely patriotic speech punctuated by standing ovations.
Soon after,
the Russian and Crimean leaders signed a treaty on making Crimea part of Russia, declaring:
"In the hearts and minds of people, Crimea has always been and remains an inseparable
part of Russia."
GIFT TO UKRAINE
That was a reference to 1954 when than
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev gave Crimea to Ukraine, well before the breakup of
the Soviet Union, and independence of Ukraine, in 1991.
Russia's Parliament
was expected to begin ratifying the treaty within days. The latest developments added
to concerns among allies of the NATO military alliance.
In Poland, which borders
Ukraine, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the annexation of Crimea by Russia cannot
be accepted by the international community.
British Foreign Secretary William
Hague said he regrets that President Putin had chosen, in his words "the route to
isolation" over Crimea.
NUCLEAR SUMMIT TALKS
And the White House announced
that leaders of the G7 nations would meet next week on the margins of a nuclear security
summit at The Hague in the Netherlands to discuss Ukraine.
The interim government
of Ukraine and its allies have also condemned the effective annexation of Crimea by
Russia, amid worries over religious and ethnic minorities there.
Yet Russian
President Putin has made clear he will defy Ukrainian protests and warned his country
will retaliate against Western sanctions.
The United States and European Union
have already targeted dozens of Russian and Ukrainian officials linked to Crimea's
unrest with far reaching assets freezes and travel bans.