Ukraine Starts Military Exercises as Russia Warns on East
Source: Bloomberg
By Kateryna Choursina, Volodymyr Verbyany and Jake Rudnitsky Mar 10, 2014 1:45 PM ET
Ukraine began military drills as Russian forces tightened their hold on the Crimean peninsula and the Foreign Ministry in Moscow warned of “lawlessness” in the former Soviet republic’s eastern provinces.
Ukraine’s armed forces are testing the combat-readiness of troops, the Defense Ministry said today on its website, reiterating the government’s desire for a peaceful end to the standoff in Crimea. Russia, which has vowed to defend the ethnic Russians that dominate Crimea after an uprising in Kiev, accused Ukraine of ignoring radicals in the nation’s east.
Russia is wresting control of Crimea, home to its Black Sea Fleet, from Ukraine following last month’s ouster of the former Soviet republic’s Moscow-backed president, Viktor Yanukovych. Ukraine says its neighbor has almost 19,000 soldiers in the region, which will vote on joining Russia on March 16. The crisis is the worst between Russia and the West since the Cold War, with the European Union and the U.S. imposing sanctions.
“In Europe we have spent the last 70 years working to keep the peace, and we know from history that turning a blind eye when nations are trampled over stores up greater problems for the longer term,” U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron told lawmakers in London today. “We must stand up to aggression, uphold international law, and support the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people who want the freedom to choose their own future.”
Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-10/ukraine-starts-military-exercises-as-russia-warns-on-east.html
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