Diplomats Seek to Isolate Russia over Actions in Ukraine

A draft resolution has been prepared by western diplomats against Russian actions in Crimea in an attempt to isolate Moscow over his acts on Ukraine, Al Jazeera.net reported.

Report said Aljazeera’s James Bays was informed that the US was to circulate the said draft at the end of the Security Council meeting on Syria. The draft will be put to vote on Friday or Saturday, a day before the looming referendum in Crimea asking Crimeans if they would join the Russian Federation or leave Ukraine. The West sees the referendum illegal.

Bays said that while Russia, with permanent council status, would muscle to veto any resolution, the said draft would be significant if it gains the support of the council members. He added that the move would show that Moscow is isolated in the international community.

Bays was quoted saying, “It is about showing the world where the members stand. The key player is the Chinese”, “A lot of the diplomacy right now is focused on China – making sure China doesn’t side with Russia and abstains,” he said in a report.

Ukraine’s interim PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk, speaking at an emergency session of the UN Security Council, said that it was still possible to resolve the crisis in Russia peacefully adding that military aggression shown by Russia was “absolutely and entirely unacceptable”.

Report said the draft resolution followed after the US secretary of state, John Kerry, threatened “serious steps” against Russia if a referendum was held in the Crimea this week. He said on Thursday that the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) would prepare a response against Russia if he could not agree a compromise with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, at talks in London on Friday.

Kerry, according to report, said that if there are no signs of “any capacity to be able to move forward and resolve this issue there will be a very serious series of steps in Europe and here with respect to the options that are available to us,” Kerry said.

Russian-siding troops moved to Crimea after Ukraine’s pro-Kremlin leader Viktor Yanukovich was ousted by parliament on February 22, aljazeera.net reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Russia has the right to use force to protect its citizens in Ukraine while Western powers have called Russia’s actions illegal and against international agreements.

Source:Al Jazeera.net

Image Credit: www.japantimes.co.jp