A convoy of hundreds of Russian troops on Sunday headed toward the capital of Ukraine’s Crimea region, a day after Russia’s forces took over the strategic Black Sea peninsula without firing a shot.
The new Government in Kiev has been powerless to react. Ukraine’s Parliament was meeting on Sunday in a closed session. Russian President Vladimir Putin has defied calls from the West to pull back his troops, insisting that Russia has a right to protect its interests and the Russian-speaking population in Crimea and elsewhere in Ukraine.
There has been no sign of ethnic Russians facing attacks in Crimea, where they make up about 60 per cent of the population, or elsewhere in Ukraine. Russia maintains an important naval base on Crimea.
President Barack Obama spoke with Putin by telephone for 90 minutes on Saturday and expressed his “deep concern” about “Russia’s clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the White House said.
Obama warned that Russia’s “continued violation of international law will lead to greater political and economic isolation.”
The US also said it will suspend participation in “preparatory meetings” for the Group of Eight economic summit planned in June at the Black Sea resort of Sochi, where the Winter Olympics were held.
French Foreign Minister laurent Fabius agreed, saying on French radio Europe that planning for the summit should be put on hold. France “condemns the Russian military escalation” in Ukraine, and Moscow must “realise that decisions have costs,” he said on Sunday. But the US and other Western Governments have few options to counter Russia’s military moves.
NATO’s North Atlantic Council, the alliance’s political decision-making body, and the NATO-Ukraine Commission were to meet today. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the allies will “coordinate closely” on the situation in Ukraine, which he termed “grave.”
Ukraine is not a NATO member, meaning the US and Europe are not obligated to come to its defense. But Ukraine has taken part in some alliance military exercises and contributed troops to its response force.PTI n Peshawar/Islamabad
Pakistan Army gunship helicopters carried out air strikes in Khyber tribal region on Sunday, killing five suspected terrorists a day after the Taliban announced a month-long truce to facilitate resumption of a stalled peace process.
Military sources said the helicopters struck the headquarters of Mullah Tamanche, whose group was allegedly involved in an attack on polio vaccinators in Khyber Agency on Saturday that killed 12 security personnel and a child.
The main centre of Tamanche in Bara area was destroyed and five suspected militants were killed, the sources said.
Hours after the air strikes, State negotiator Rustam Shah Mohmand said the Taliban had declared the ceasefire following a demand from the Government and authorities should reciprocate by announcing a truce.
In a statement issued on Saturday, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Shahidullah Shahid announced a month-long ceasefire and appealed to militants “to respect the decision and refrain from any activity during this period”.
The ceasefire was welcomed by the Government, and Irfan Siddiqui, the head of the State negotiators, told PTI: “This is a happy and positive development. We are hopeful that the dialogue process will move ahead.”
The Government recently suspended the peace process with the TTP after a militant faction executed 23 troops abducted in 2010. Meanwhile, chief military spokesman Maj Gen Asim Bajwa told NBC News that security forces had cornered terrorist elements in North Waziristan region and were ready to mop them up.
The Pakistan Army had committed over 150,000 troops to fighting the insurgency in the tribal areas, compared to less than 100,000 on the Indian border, he said. This “reflects our resolve about how seriously we are taking this new, internal threat”, Bajwa said.