Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said the crisis in Ukraine was “created artificially for purely geopolitical reasons”.
He confirmed Russia had contacts with Ukraine’s interim government but said Kiev was beholden to the radical right. Russia, he said, was open to further dialogue with the West if it was “honest and partner-like”. Ukraine’s interim Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya said he saw hopeful signs Russia might engage in talks. “We have not sat and talked with Russians but we managed to send our message through intermediaries,” he said in Kiev.
“Russia’s position is not categorical, they are accepting this proposal and are considering it, so, there is some hope.” He said it was too early to give more details of the proposal. In related developments: * Russian news agencies carried a statement from a defence ministry official saying that Moscow was considering halting foreign inspections of its strategic weapons arsenal – designated under international arms control treaties – as a result of US and Nato responses to the Ukraine crisis * Poland’s foreign minister said the country’s consulate in Sevastopol had been “reluctantly” evacuated as a result of “continuing disturbances by Russian forces there” Attacked and beaten: Ben Brown reports from inside a military base where Ukrainians are taking steps to protect it from invasion Ukraine’s Crimea region remains tense ahead of a self-declared referendum to be held on 16 March on whether to join the Russian Federation. Pro-Russian soldiers apparently tried to seize another Ukrainian military base outside the biggest city, Sevastopol, overnight but no shots were fired and they pulled back. Two journalists were attacked and beaten during the standoff while it has emerged that an Associated Press crew had their equipment seized in the Crimean capital, Simferopol, on Thursday. Every day, there is intimidation of the Ukrainians, who believe pro-Russian soldiers are trying to force a reaction as a pretext to take over, the BBC’s Christian Fraser reports from Crimea. It is becoming more dangerous for the media, our correspondent adds. Meanwhile, a team of independent observers from an international security body – the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) – is due to make a new attempt to enter Crimea. The team has been turned away twice this week at Crimea’s land border with the rest of Ukraine. Pro-Russian forces took control of key installations on the peninsula on 28 February in a largely bloodless operation which seems to have had the support of many of Crimea’s majority ethnic Russians. ‘Terror and intimidation’: On Friday, Mr Lavrov warned the US not to take “hasty and reckless steps” in response to the crisis in Crimea. – BBC News
