Ukraine crisis: Nato warns Russia against further intervention

BBC News online -- 8 April 2014

Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen: "I urge Russia to step back"

Nato has warned Russia that further intervention in Ukraine would be a "historic mistake" with grave consequences. 

Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Moscow must pull back troops it has massed on the Ukrainian border.

On Tuesday, Ukraine regained control of one of the government buildings occupied by pro-Russian activists in the east of the country.

Moscow has said that using force to end the protests could lead to civil war.
Kiev says the unrest in the east is being fomented by Russia following its annexation of the Crimean peninsula.

Russia took control in Crimea - where Russian-speakers are in a majority - after a disputed referendum.

In another development, the Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin would meet senior officials on Wednesday to discuss economic ties with Ukraine - including energy supplies.

Ukraine owes Russia's Gazprom $2.2bn (£1.3bn) for supplies of natural gas and missed a deadline to pay its March bill by midnight on Monday. Previous disputes over the price of gas have seen Gazprom cut off supplies to Ukraine.

Steve Rosenberg reports from the barricades surrounding Donetsk city hall

"I urge Russia to step back and not escalate the situation in east Ukraine," Mr Rasmussen said in Paris where he was attending a seminar on Nato reforms.
"If Russia were to intervene further in Ukraine, it would be an historic mistake. It would have grave consequences for our relationship with Russia and it would further isolate Russia internationally."

The US and the EU have already imposed targeted sanctions on Russian and Ukrainian individuals over the annexation of Crimea.

Mr Rasmussen added: "We call on Russia to pull back the tens of thousands of troops it has massed on Ukraine's borders, engage in a genuine dialogue with the Ukrainian authorities and respect its international commitments."

Pro-Russian activists erected a barricade outside the security service building in Luhansk

Ukrainian police sealed off the regional government building in Kharkiv

Barricades and razor wire surround the government building in Donetsk

Manning the barricades in Donetsk proves tiring for some activists

Responding to his remarks, Russian Senator Andrei Klimov, deputy chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, told the BBC that the Nato warning could be perceived as a threat.
And he denied that Russia had any intention to intervene militarily.

Crisis timeline

• 21 Nov 2013: President Viktor Yanukovych abandons an EU deal
• Dec: Pro-EU protesters occupy Kiev city hall and Independence Square
• 20-21 Feb 2014: At least 88 people killed in Kiev clashes
• 22 Feb: Mr Yanukovych flees; parliament removes him and calls election
• 27-28 Feb: Pro-Russian gunmen seize key buildings in Crimea.
• 16 Mar: Crimea voters choose to secede in disputed referendum
• 18 Mar: Russian and Crimean leaders sign deal in Moscow to join the region to Russia

"This is very provocative. Look, we have no such intent because we don't want to do that... and we're ready to have negotiations between Kiev, Brussels and Moscow. Unfortunately Brussels was not ready for this," he said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, addressing a Senate panel on Tuesday, said Russian special forces and agents had been "the catalyst behind the chaos of the last 24 hours".

He said recent events "could potentially be a contrived pretext for military intervention just as we saw in Crimea".

Earlier, Ukrainian authorities said they had retaken control of the regional administration building in the city of Kharkiv from pro-Russia separatists.

They said they hoped that buildings in Luhansk and Donetsk would be freed shortly as well.
Hundreds of pro-Russia demonstrators seized government buildings in the three cities on Sunday night, barricading themselves inside and raising Russian flags.

In Donetsk, protesters inside the regional authority building declared a separatist republic and called for a referendum on secession from Ukraine.

There were talks overnight in Donetsk between the authorities and activists but protesters remained in control.

Lawmakers traded blows at Ukraine's parliament in Kiev

On Tuesday, Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister Danylo Lubkivsky told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the situation in eastern Ukraine was "under control but remains dangerous".

Interim President Oleksandr Turchynov said several Ukrainian policemen had been injured in the operation to retake the Kharkiv regional state administration.

Some 70 people were detained without shots being fired, Ukraine's interior ministry said in a statement.

President Putin has said he will use "all means necessary" to protect ethnic Russians in Ukraine.
The Russian foreign ministry increased pressure on Kiev on Tuesday by accusing it of making "military preparations that are fraught with the risk of unleashing a civil war".

It also alleged that interim leaders in Kiev were deploying private US security staff dressed as Ukrainian special forces.

Washington has not commented on the claim, but on Monday the White House warned the Kremlin to stop efforts to "destabilise Ukraine".

Meanwhile, a brawl broke out in parliament in Kiev after a communist deputy accused nationalists of aiding Russia by bringing down the government of President Viktor Yanukovych.

Russia is refusing to recognise the new authorities in Kiev who took power after pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in February.

Mr Yanukovych fled Kiev for Russia after months of street protests triggered by his refusal to sign an association agreement with the EU in favour of closer ties with Russia.
More than 100 people died in the ensuing unrest.