Acting Ukrainian President Oleksander Turchinov accused Russia of working to overthrow state power in Ukraine yesterday, after pro-Russian rebels declared a resounding victory in rebel referendums on self-rule in eastern regions.
Turchinov said the Kremlin was trying to disrupt a presidential election later this month, which is taking center stage in a confrontation pitting Moscow and the separatists against the government in Kiev and its Western backers.
RIA news agency quoted a rebel leader as saying the eastern Luhansk region would boycott the May 25 election. What he called the “Republic of Luhansk” may hold a further referendum on union with Russia, as Ukraine’s Crimea region did under Russian military occupation before its annexation by Moscow in March.
Ukraine’s election is intended to secure democratic continuity and legitimacy after pro-Moscow former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych fled the country in February, and Western governments have threatened more sanctions in the vital areas of energy, financial services and engineering if Moscow disrupts the vote.
Moscow said it respected the outcome of Sunday’s referendums, in which separatists claimed 90 percent support in the industrial Donetsk region, while RIA, a Russian state news agency, reported 96.2 percent backing in Luhansk region.
The results should be implemented peacefully, Russia said.
The EU declared the referendums illegal and increased pressure on Russia yesterday by taking a first step toward extending sanctions to companies, as well as people, linked to Crimea’s annexation.
The rebels have given differing accounts of their plans.
However, one spokesman said these did not include taking part in electing a replacement for Turchinov, who has been acting president since pro-EU protesters forced Yanukovych from office.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
The US House of Representatives yesterday unanimously passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, which aims to disincentivize Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by cutting Chinese leaders and their family members off from the US financial system if Beijing acts against Taiwan. The bipartisan bill, which would also publish the assets of top Chinese leaders, was cosponsored by Republican US Representative French Hill, Democratic US Representative Brad Sherman and seven others. If the US president determines that a threat against Taiwan exists, the bill would require the US Department of the Treasury to report to Congress on funds held by certain members of the
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