Simferopol: Top Russian lawmakers on Friday welcomed the prospect of Crimea joining the country, despite stiffening sanctions on Moscow over the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War. The heads of Russia’s two houses of Parliament said they would respect a decision by lawmakers in Ukraine’s majority Russian peninsula to renounce ties with Kiev and stage a March 16 referendum on switching over to Kremlin rule.
“Should the people of Crimea decide to join Russia in a referendum, we will unquestionably back this choice,” said speaker of the upper house Valentina Matviyenko.
“We will respect the historic choice of the people of Crimea,” said her lower house counterpart Sergei Naryshkin.
The escalating threat of the ex-Soviet nation of 46 million splintering between its pro-European west and more Russified southeast prompted US President Barack Obama to place an hour-long call to Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. It marked the leaders’ second lengthy phone call in five days and both sides described it as tough.
The White House said Mr Obama “emphasised that Russia’s actions are in violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, which has led us to take several steps in response.” The Kremlin for its part said Mr Putin tried to calm tensions by stressing that US-Russian relations “should not be sacrificed.”
