Nato chief calls on Russia to stop destabilising Ukraine

Anders Fogh Rasmussen says Russia should 'stop being part of the problem and start being part of the solution'

• Rowena Mason, political correspondent, Paul Lewis in Washington and Alec Luhn in Donetsk
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• theguardian.com, Tuesday 15 April 2014 12.27 BST
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Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Nato secretary general. Photograph: Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP

The Nato chief, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, has joined the US and UK in issuing an urgent public call on Russia to de-escalate tensions in the Ukraine, as pro-Russia separatists remained in control of government buildings in the country's east.
"I call on Russia to de-escalate the crisis, to pull back its troops … to stop destabilising the situation and make clear it does not support the violent actions of pro-Russian separatists," Rasmussen said at a briefing of EU defence ministers. "Russia should stop being part of the problem and start being part of the solution."
He stressed that military action was not yet an option, but the UK and US have threatened Moscow with further sanctions unless they act to bring the Ukraine crisis under control.
The British foreign secretary, William Hague, warned Russia it faced being frozen out by the west for years if it did not stop destabilising Ukraine. He said London was prepared to take a financial hit from sanctions affecting business relations.
It followed a tense telephone call between Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin on Monday night in which the US president told his Russian counterpart that Moscow would face costs for its actions in Ukraine and should use its influence to get separatists in the country to stand down. The US has also deployed additional fighter aircraft to the Baltic states and Poland.
The German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, added to the calls when he said on Tuesday that Russia should distance itself "from the violent and unlawful actions of pro-Russian demonstrators".
Pro-Russian protesters cemented their control of administrative buildings in at least nine cities in the east of Ukraine on Monday, refusing to abide by an order from the central government in Kiev to leave or face being forced out by an "anti-terrorist operation".
Early on Tuesday, separatists voluntarily surrendered the police headquarters in Kramatorsk that had been stormed by armed militants on Saturday, Ukrainian police said.
But protesters still controlled a string of buildings across the region, despite another central government announcement that it was acting to restore order in the restive region. The Associated Press reported that Ukrainian tanks were spotted on the move within 70km (43 miles) of one city controlled by pro-Moscow gunmen..............................................

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/15/russia-frozen-out-ukraine-crisis