Kiev: The Ukraine crisis switched gears on Monday after the pro-Russians held their referendum on Sunday. While the EU imposed new sanctions on Russia and Crimea on Monday the pro-Russian rebel group leader said that there will be no polling on the May 25 Ukraine elections in the rebel-held regions as the referendum has backed the rebel cause to split from Ukraine and stay independent. The European Union added 13 Russians and Crimeans as well as two companies to its exiting blacklist, EU diplomats said.
There were no immediate details available but sources said two Crimean firms confiscated following the March annexation of the peninsula by Russia were on the list. Also, in a change of tack, Russia supported the referendum while the OSCE clarified saying that Russia doesn’t recognise the referendum but respects it. Meanwhile, the self-proclaimed head of the “People’s Republic of Donetsk” in eastern Ukraine on Monday declared the region a sovereign state and asked Russia to consider allowing it to accede.
“Proceeding from the expression of the will of the people of the Donetsk People's Republic and in order to restore historical justice, we ask the Russian Federation to consider the issue of the Donetsk People's Republic becoming part of the Russian Federation,” Denis Pushilin told reporters. Mr Pushilin was speaking after he claimed 89 per cent of people in the region supported independence in Sunday’s referendum slammed as illegal and a farce by both the West and Kiev.
“We, the people of the Donetsk People’s Republic, based on the results of the referendum held on 11 May 2014 ... declare that the (republic) is henceforth a sovereign state,” he said. On the other hand the blame game continued with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman on Monday dismissed Western accusations against Russia over the Ukraine crisis and said Washington and Brussels were not doing enough to prevent the raging violence in the country.
The United States said on Monday it does not recognise the “illegal referendum” held over the weekend in east Ukraine that called for the region to break away from Kiev. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the vote organised by pro-Russian elements in Donetsk and Lugansk “was an attempt to create further division and disorder in the country.” “We do not recognise the illegal referendum,” she said. “It was illegal under Ukraine laws,” she added.
Pro-Russian separatists claimed a massive victory in the two east Ukraine regions, while Kiev called the balloting a farce. Ms Psaki added that the “methodology was also highly suspect, with reports of ... pre-marked ballots, children voting, voting for people who were absent, and even voting in Moscow and St. Petersburg.”Some people had also voted more than once, Psaki alleged. The International Mon-etary Fund (IMF) said on Monday it was “monitoring the situation” in Ukraine after disputed pro-Russia separatist votes in the east of the country. In April, the IMF approved a $17 billion aid package for Ukraine, but warned it may need to be recalibrated if Kiev loses control of the east.
