NATO Discussing Action Against Russia Over Ukraine
(Vatican Radio) Foreign ministers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are meeting
in Brussels for the first time since Russia's takeover of the Crimean Peninsula caused
the worst East-West tensions since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The NATO gathering
comes while tens of thousands of Russian troops remain near Ukraine's border, despite
a small withdrawal, and warnings of Ukrainian leaders that they will not accept Russian
interference in their country's internal affairs.
The ministers from the
NATO military alliance's 28 member states were to discuss the formal suspension of
co-operation with Moscow over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. Ukraine's
Foreign Minister Andrey Deshchytsa was also due to attend the meeting.
In
a sign of tensions not seen since the Cold War, they NATO officials were also looking
at situating permanent military bases in the Baltic states to reassure members in
Eastern Europe.
NATO jets are also to step up air patrols in the region as
Russia's actions have increased anxiety in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which were
once part of the Soviet Union.
RUSSIA'S PHONE CALL
They met after Russian
President Vladimir Putin reportedly told German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a phone
call that he had ordered the withdrawal of some troops from Ukraine's borders.
However
White House Spokesman Jay Carney said tens of thousands of Russian forces remain in
place, complicating diplomatic efforts to end the crisis. "It will be a difficult
process, a diplomatic one, to proceed in the current tense atmosphere, and that’s
why we have called on Russia to pull its forces back to their pre-crisis positions
and levels," he said.
"It is also necessary to establish -- for Russia to
establish direct dialogue with Ukraine..."
Ukraine's interim government agrees.
It has called the withdrawal of some Russian troops as nothing more than a tactical
maneuver.
NO FEDERAL STATE?
Additionally Ukraine's acting-President
Oleksandr Turchynov rejected Russian suggestions to make Ukraine a federal state,
saying the "Russian government should solve the problems of the Russian Federation,
not the problems of Ukraine."
And the favorite to become Ukraine's next president
in May, businessman Petro Poroshenko, has told reporters that Russian forces should
leave Crimea. “We are ready for significant compromise with Russia. We have one very
simple pre-condition: ‘de-occupying’ Ukraine, to keep sovereignty and territorial
integrity of Ukraine, to keep the independence of Ukraine," he explained.
"And
that’s why Russian forces should go from the Crimean Peninsula and Crimea should stay
Ukrainian. And if it happens we are ready to give significant autonomy. We are ready
to give a special status for Sevastopol. We are ready to provide special tax regime
for the whole Crimea,” Poroshenko added.
In exchange he said Ukraine would
provide significant autonomy and special tax status to the whole of Crimea.
RUSSIAN
PRIME MINISTER
He spoke a day after Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev
visited Crimea, promising to turn the region into a special economic zone, as well
as rising pensions and salaries.
Besides Russian forces, Ukraine's interim
government also deals with tensions closer to home in Kyiv, where police said they
were hunting a gunman who shot and wounded three people, including a senior official
in the mayor’s office.
The shooting happened outside a restaurant close to
Independence Square, known as Maidan, where dozens were killed in unrest that led
to the ouster of pro-Moscow President Victor Yanukovich.