(Vatican Radio) Ukraine has ordered the withdrawal of all its forces from Crimea,
following the Russian takeover of the peninsula. Monday's announcement came while
Western concerns over Ukraine was expected to dominate a nuclear security summit in
the Netherlands.
Ukrainian President Oleksander Turchinov told Parliament
Monday that defense authorities have instructed what he called "a re-deployment of
military units in Crimea."
He added this would also involve "the evacuation
of their families" amid what he said "were threats and pressure from the Russian military".
Turchinov,
spoke after Russian troops entered a key Ukrainian naval base near Feodosia, crowning
a gradual take-over of Ukrainian military facilities on the peninsula.
Western
leaders also fear that Moscow will also enter other eastern areas of Ukraine, where
many have called for unification with Russia, and into the breakaway Transdniester
region in Moldova.
Ukraine was expected to headline the two-day nuclear summit
in the Netherlands where a hurriedly scheduled meeting was to be held Monday of the
Group of Seven industrialized economies — the United States, Britain, Canada, France,
Germany, Italy and Japan.
American President Barack Obama told Dutch Prime
Minister Mark Rutte while visiting Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum that he supports European
sanctions against Russia.
"Europe and America are united in our support
of the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people," he said, at a news conference
in front of artist Rembrandt's Night Watch painting.
"We are united in
imposing a cost on Russia for its actions so far. Prime Minister Rutte rightly pointed
out yesterday that the growing sanctions would bring significant consequences to the
Russian economy," he added.
But Obama's words did not impress Moscow. In
fact, Elderly decorated men added the flags of Crimea and Sevastopol to Russia's parliament
during a ceremony in front of press photographers.
Yet, U.S Secretary of
State John Kerry was to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrovin the Netherlands
to discuss Ukraine.
It's their first meeting since Washington imposed financial
restrictions and travel bans on the most powerful members of Russian President Vladimir
Putin's inner circle, for their decision to takeover Crimea, following the fall of
Ukraine's pro-Kremlin government.