Separatists urge Russia to intervene

(Vatican Radio) Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have urged Moscow to help them fight against Ukrainian troops, after Ukraine's acting president threatened with what he called a full-scale anti-terrorist action, following deadly clashes.


Ukraine appeared closer to a military confrontation as the militants from what they called a new “Donetsk People’s Republic” appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to intervene.


In a statement, they asked Putin to help them defend themselves against Ukrainian government forces.

Ukrainian acting President Oleksander Turchynov gave the pro-Russian militants in eastern Ukraine until Monday morning to disarm and to leave occupied government buildings or face what he called a full scale anti-terrorist operation.


“This is not a war between Ukrainians, this is an artificially created conflict aimed at weakening and destroying Ukraine as a state,” he said in televised remarks. Turchynov accused Moscow of seeking takeover eastern regions, or “a Crimea scenario”, after Russia already annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.


AMNESTY PLEDGE
Despite presidential promises of an amnesty, there were no signs Monday the separatists had left buildings, including police and security service headquarters.

Moscow has warned Ukraine not to use military action against pro-Russian protesters, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accusing the West of hypocrisy.


“The violence on Maidan [in Kyiv],ended with dozens and dozens of deaths – but was called a democracy,” he said. “However, peaceful protests in the southeast [of Ukraine] are called terrorism and it is declared that armed forces will be used in a so-called ‘anti-terrorism operation’.”

European Union ministers disagree. They gathered Monday to discuss ways to pressure Russia to de-escalate the crisis in Ukraine, explained Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans.

‘NOT A ZEBRA’
“The problem is that it looks very, very similar to what happened in the Crimea,” he told reporters in Luxembourg. “If it looks like a horse, it walks like a horse. It’s usually a horse and not a zebra.”


British Foreign Minister William Hague said further sanctions have to be the response to Russia’s behaviour. “Of course, we will need to agree amongst the whole of the EU how far those go. But certainly I will be making that argument,” he added.

Monday's meeting came just days before the first four way-gathering between Ukraine, Russia, the EU and the United States since the crisis began.

Listen to the report by Stefan Bos: