Paris: France’s foreign minister says that leaders of the Group of Eight world powers have suspended Russia's participation in the club amid tensions over Ukraine and Russia's incursion into Crimea.
The other seven members of the group had already suspended preparations for a G8 summit that Russia is scheduled to host in June in Sochi. France's Laurent Fabius went further today, saying on Europe-1 radio that “concerning the G8 we decided to suspend Russia’s participation, and it is envisaged that all the other countries, the seven leading countries, will unite without Russia.” Fabius did not give further details.
The US and European Union on Tuesday announced new sanctions against Russia over its actions in the Crimean Peninsula.
Defying Ukrainian protests and Western sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty on Tuesday making Crimea part of Russia again but said he did not plan to seize any other regions of Ukraine.
In a fiercely patriotic address to a joint session of parliament in the Kremlin, punctuated by standing ovations, cheers and tears, Putin said Crimea's disputed referendum vote on Sunday, held under Russian military occupation, had shown the overwhelming will of the people to be reunited with Russia. As the Russian national anthem played, Putin and Crimean leaders signed a treaty to make Crimea part of the Russian Federation, declaring: “In the hearts and minds of people, Crimea has always been and remains an inseparable part of Russia.” Parliament is expected to begin ratifying the treaty within days.
Putin later told a flag-waving rally in Red Square beneath the walls of the Kremlin, near where Soviet politburo leaders once took the salute at communist May Day parades, that Crimea has returned to “home port”.
Russian forces took control of the Black Sea peninsula in late February following the toppling of Moscow-backed Ukrainian President
Viktor Yanukovich by a protest movement sparked by his decision to spurn a far-reaching trade deal with the European Union last November and seek closer ties with Russia.
