Soldier Killed As Gunmen Storm Crimea Base

Putin's Deal For Crimea Ignored

Updated: 7:42pm UK, Tuesday 18 March 2014

By Jason Farrell, Sky News Correspondent

"In our hearts, in our minds Crimea has always been an integral part of Russia. It's all based on truth and justice," President Putin told Russia.

Women wept in the audience but elsewhere in Europe hearts must have been sinking.

The US, Britain, France and Germany strongly condemned Moscow's inking of a treaty making Crimea a Russian territory, with Foreign Secretary William Hague saying London was suspending all bilateral military co-operation.

The events in Crimea have rattled nerves in Poland and the three Baltic states, which were under Moscow's thumb before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Putin's pulpit-style history lesson during his address will have done little to calm them.

He told his Kremlin audience: "After the revolution Bolsheviks decided to give up Crimea and God will judge them for that."

He added that after the breakup of the Soviet Union "millions of Russians went to bed in one country and woke up abroad", and claimed Crimea was "given away like a sack of potatoes".

It was quite clear the President felt he was acting within his rights and was not reeling from "phase II" sanctions or even the threat of "phase III" trade sanctions.

He told the room sanctions were something Russia had always had to endure.

"During the cold War the United States and other countries banned sales in a large list of technologies to the Soviet Union," he said.

"We know that those bans are still in operation."

But towards the end of his speech he seemed to offer a deal.

Asking for assurances that ethnic Russian in Ukraine would have their rights defended, he said: "We don't want to carve up Ukraine."

It seemed that Putin was negotiating from his Kremlin lectern offering to leave the rest of the country alone if Ukraine and the West could accept Crimea being incorporated into Russian territory.

The deal was not laid outright, but when I suggested it to a spokesman for David Cameron he said: "We acknowledge Russian interests in Crimea.

"We understand that. But when it comes to the future of Ukraine, it must be up to the Ukrainian people."

Later the Prime Minister said in a statement: "The steps taken by President Putin today to attempt to annex Crimea to Russia are in flagrant breach of international law and send a chilling message across the continent of Europe.

"It is completely unacceptable for Russia to use force to change borders, on the basis of a sham referendum held at the barrel of a Russian gun.

"President Putin should be in no doubt that Russia will face more serious consequences and I will push European leaders to agree further EU measures when we meet on Thursday."

It seems he will have cross-party support. In a Commons debate on the crisis Malcom Rifkind gave a passionate speech saying Europe had so far looked weak.

He said: "On the basis of the measures announced so far by both the United States and the European Union on visa controls and asset freezes for individuals, I say with great sadness that is a pathetic and feeble response."

Labour's Ian Austin was in agreement saying the UK should "board up" UK property owned by Russia's elite.

He said: "I think we should change the locks on their fancy apartments in Kensington, board up the mansions they've bought in the Home Counties and empty their bank accounts to show them that the West won't tolerate the sort of brutality and corruption that passes for government and business in Putin's Russia."

President Putin must know he cannot keep Crimea without consequence, but he may be hoping his offer not to go further in to Ukraine will be heard by some - and divide opinion when it comes to sanction discussions in Brussels on Thursday.

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