By Good Morning America
After moving closer today toward annexing Crimea despite looming U.S. sanctions, a defiant President Vladimir Putin called opposition to the move “a demonstration of double standards,” blasting the West for promoting “freedom” while ignoring the “free will” of Crimeans whose leaders today signed a treaty to join Russia.
”Our Western partners, especially the USA, believe that they can decide for the world, that they can decide other people’s fate,” he thundered to the Russian Parliament today. “Look at Belgrade. At the end of the twentieth century. Then Afghanistan, Libya. Those nations were tired, but the U.S. cynically used that.”
Putin took more steps earlier today toward annexing Crimea, which voted Sunday to secede from Ukraine, despite warnings from President Obama that doing so would incur further U.S. sanctions.
In a decree, Putin notified his country's legislature about Crimea’s proposal to join the Russian Federation and he strongly urged lawmakers to pass it quickly.
Lawmakers are expected to take up the measure Friday, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency.
Addressing Russian lawmakers today, Putin blamed the West for developments in the Ukraine.
"We always respected the integrity of Ukraine. All that is happening in Ukraine is their [The West’s) doing. We do not want a split Ukraine, we want Ukrainian unity. Crimea is strategic territory – it needs stability, and therefore today it can only be Russian," he said to applause.
As for penalties against Russia, Putin said, "Some in the West don’t only threaten us with sanctions, but scare us that we may have problems within. ... Our aim is to have good, neighborly relations with everyone."
The Russian leader’s march toward annexing Crimea appears to be a sign that U.S. and European sanctions on a handful of Russian officials Monday had little effect. Many of the sanctioned individuals responded with a mix of pride and mocking indifference. A joint proposal from all of the parties in the Russian parliament today asked President Obama to sanction them as well.
U.S. officials say that if Russia does allow Crimea to join Russia, it is prepared to increase sanctions and can ratchet them up again if Russia continues to interfere in Ukrainian affairs.
Several more steps must still be taken before Crimea is allowed to join Russia officially, including a review by the Constitutional Court, but those are considered formalities if the Kremlin has decided to go ahead with annexation.
Already, authorities in Crimea have taken steps to ease their way into Russian life. They have voted to move their clocks to Moscow time – two hours ahead – by the end of the month and will adopt the Russian ruble as a second currency within a few months.
Emboldened by the Crimean example, the breakaway region of Transnistria, officially part of Moldova, is also considering a referendum to join Russia, according to the Russian newspaper Vedomosti.
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