Europe's peace at risk: World leaders say Russian invasion of Ukraine could spiral into 'biggest international crisis since Cold War'
- Ukraine developments hailed 'biggest international crisis since Cold War'
- Ukraine's acting PM described Russian behaviour as 'declaration of war'
- Putin insists he reserves right to take military action in region
- Miliband's refusal to back intervention in Syria to blame - senior Tories
- Britain's ministers will boycott Paralympic Games in Sochi, Russia
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World leaders said yesterday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatened to spiral into the biggest international crisis since the end of the Cold War.
On a dramatic day of escalation in what the US called an ‘incredible act of aggression’ by Moscow, there were warnings that the standoff threatens peace in Europe.
In other developments:
- Ukraine’s acting prime minister, Arseniy Yatseniuk, described Russian behaviour as a ‘declaration of war’.
- Kiev called for ‘solidarity’ from foreign countries and highlighted a 1994 treaty in which Britain and the United States guaranteed Ukrainian borders.
- A defiant Vladimir Putin told US President Barack Obama he reserved the right to take further military action in eastern Ukraine.
- The tensions in the region could put Britain’s gas supply at risk.
- Ukraine’s newly appointed Navy chief, who had been refusing to fight the Russians, defected and pledged his allegiance to the Crimean region.
- Britain announced that its ministers and officials are to boycott the Paralympic Games in Sochi, Russia.
- Senior Tories claimed Ed Miliband’s refusal to back military intervention in Syria, a Russian ally, last summer has emboldened Putin.
Britain pulled out of preparatory talks for a summit of the G8 group of leading countries due to take place in Russia in June, while the US suggested Moscow could be thrown out of the organisation altogether.
A soldier without identifying insignia mans a machine gun outside the Crimean parliament building
A Ukrainian army tank withdraws from standing just inside the gate at the Crimean base
Armed men in military uniform walk outside the
territory of a Ukrainian military unit in the village of Perevalnoye,
outside Simferopol, where a tense stand-off took place
US Secretary of State John Kerry accused Putin of seeking to drag international relations back to the ‘19th century’, adding: ‘It is really a stunning, wilful choice by President Putin to invade another country. Russia is in violation of the sovereignty of Ukraine.’
Last night, Nato said Russia’s military action against Ukraine was ‘a breach of international law’. ‘We call on Russia to de-escalate tensions,’ it said.
‘Nato allies will continue to support Ukrainian sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.’ Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Russia was ‘threatening peace and security in Europe’.
The crisis has been triggered by Russian forces effectively seizing control of the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was a part of Russia until the 1950s.
An Orthodox priest stands next to an armed man blocking access to a Ukrainian border guards base
GAS PRICES COULD RISE
The tensions in Ukraine could put Britain’s gas supply at risk.
Fears that the cost of energy could rise as a result of the crisis have heightened amid fears that Russia could again turn off the taps of the pipeline connecting Europe to its natural gas fields.
Europe imports around a third of its gas from Russia via a pipeline which passes through Ukraine.
Analysts warn that because Britain is now a net gas importer – last year for the first time we bought in more than we produced from the North Sea – we are vulnerable to rising world energy prices. Much of the UK’s supply comes either by pipeline from Norway or from Qatar, where it is loaded on tankers in liquefied form.
If Russian gas is taken out of the market, as it was in 2006 and 2009 when the country blocked exports via Ukraine, the knock-on effect for global prices could be to push up the cost of gas that Britain imports.
David Buik of stockbrokers Panmure Gordon said: ‘We have let Russia dominate the energy market with a vice-like control of gas pipes.
‘Vladimir Putin can turn the supply on or off as he sees fit.’
Fears that the cost of energy could rise as a result of the crisis have heightened amid fears that Russia could again turn off the taps of the pipeline connecting Europe to its natural gas fields.
Europe imports around a third of its gas from Russia via a pipeline which passes through Ukraine.
Analysts warn that because Britain is now a net gas importer – last year for the first time we bought in more than we produced from the North Sea – we are vulnerable to rising world energy prices. Much of the UK’s supply comes either by pipeline from Norway or from Qatar, where it is loaded on tankers in liquefied form.
If Russian gas is taken out of the market, as it was in 2006 and 2009 when the country blocked exports via Ukraine, the knock-on effect for global prices could be to push up the cost of gas that Britain imports.
David Buik of stockbrokers Panmure Gordon said: ‘We have let Russia dominate the energy market with a vice-like control of gas pipes.
‘Vladimir Putin can turn the supply on or off as he sees fit.’
This weekend, the Russian parliament authorised Putin to deploy troops in Ukraine to protect the lives of Russian citizens.
Speaking as Western nations began suspending preparations for the G8 summit in June, Mr Kerry said Moscow could be forced out of the group altogether.
‘You just don’t in the 21st century behave in 19th-century fashion by invading another country on a completely trumped-up pretext,’ he said.
‘He [Putin] is not going to have a Sochi G8, he may not even remain in the G8 if this continues. He may find himself with asset freezes on Russian business, American business may pull back, there may be a further tumble of the rouble.’
The US yesterday warned Putin of massive economic reprisals which could include blacklisting oligarchs who parade their wealth abroad but keep tight links to Putin at home.
A diplomatic source said: ‘Tycoons like Roman Abramovich and Alisher Usmanov are more than football moguls – they are close to Putin. Whose side are they on here?’
Ukraine's Acting President Oleksander Turchinov
(L), Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk (R) and Defense Minister Ihor
Tenyukh. Kiev said Russia's behaviour today was a 'declaration of war'
Independence square in Kiev was full of protestors today, demonstrating against Russian action in Crimea
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