Need to de-escalate situation over Crimea

Despite extensive diplomatic efforts to defuse the Ukrainian conflict, including hours-long telephone calls between US President Barack Obama and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, as well as talks held by US Secretary of State John Kerry and his counterpart, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in Paris, the two sides remain miles apart.

Moscow went ahead with plans to consolidate its grip on Crimea, by having the Crimean parliament adopt a resolution purporting to have this Black Sea peninsula annexed by Russia and stipulating the deployment of about 30,000 Russian troops on Crimean soil, in open defiance of the West’s calls on Russia to retract measures to annex Crimea.

Russia also started military manoeuvres across its border with Ukraine, and the US moved some of its naval units into the Black Sea, and deployed some of its aerial surveillance planes in Eastern Europe.

The Cold War era appears poised to get a new foothold in the East-West relations.

The Russian president does not seem to be in talking mood. He decided that since the majority of the population of Crimea is Russian speaking, it is its legitimate right to unite with Russia.

A referendum is now scheduled in Crimea for March 16 in a bid to give added credence and a sense of legitimacy to the parliament’s decision to unite with Moscow, rather than stay part of Ukraine.

The Western camp is, as a result, threatening to impose sanctions on Moscow, something Russian officials warned could only boomerang.

Moscow warned that imposition of sanctions would lead to the disruption of the flow of Russian natural gas to Ukraine and beyond to Western Europe, a threat Europe can only take seriously and be worried about.

This being the situation, the standoff between the US and Russia over Ukraine must first be contained and then settled diplomatically through the UN Security Council.

Disputes of legal import, specifically on the exercise of the right to self-determination by the Russian people in Crimea, must be referred to the International Court of Justice for adjudication.

Every effort must be exerted to end this standoff so sadly reminiscent of the ugly Cold War days.