Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on March 30, 2014

MOSCOW, March 4 (RIA Novosti) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called the acting authorities in Ukraine illegitimate, but said a military intervention in Russias western neighbor would be a last resort.

The remarks were the first public comments from Putin on the crisis in Ukraine since protesters in the capital, Kiev, swept to power last month.

Putin said Ukraines new government had no legal authority, and he urged new elections as soon as possible.

The parliament is partially legitimate, but all the rest is not. The acting president does not have any legitimacy, Putin told reporters.

While he denounced the Kiev authorities, Putin said Russia was not planning any imminent military action. The use of troops is a last resort, he said. There is no necessity to do it at the moment, though that option is on the table.

Any intervention would be purely humanitarian in nature, Putin said.

If we take a decision to deploy troops then it will only be for the peoples protection, he said. Our militaries are brothers in arms, friends. I am sure that Ukrainian and Russian soldiers will be on the same side of the barricade.

Troops under apparent Russian command, many of them traveling in military trucks and armored personnel carriers, have deployed widely around Crimea, as attested by numerous eyewitness accounts from reporters on the ground.

The troops have seized key strategic points across the peninsula, provoking a tense standoff with the Ukrainian military. Officials in Kiev and other capitals across the world have described the actions as an invasion.

Russias upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, approved on Saturday a request by Putin for the deployment of troops inside Ukraine.

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Putin Slams Ukrainian Govt, Says Invasion 'Last Resort'

Category: Jewish American Heritage Month
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