Crimean leader urges Putin to help restore peace

Armed men patrol around the regional parliament building in the Crimean city of Simferopol March 1, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

KIEV -- Crimean leader Sergey Aksenov on Saturday called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to help guarantee peace in the crisis-torn autonomous republic in southern Ukraine.

"Taking into account my responsibility for the life and security of citizens, I ask Russian President Vladimir Putin to help ensure peace and calm on the territory of Crimea," Aksenov said in a statement quoted by local media.

A statement from the Kremlin said Russia had noted the appeal by the Russian Unity Party leader who was appointed prime minister of Crimea on Thursday by local lawmakers.

Aksenov also stressed that powerful institutions, such as the armed forces, the police, the national security service and border guards, should answer only to his orders and all commanders should obey his instructions.

Unrest in Ukraine

The new Ukrainian central government on Friday ordered the Crimean police department's heads be replaced, which Aksenov said went against an agreement with the Crimean parliament under which the central government had no right to appoint directors of such agencies.

The central government's appointment and the appearance of unidentified armed men in its territory forced the Crimean government to lose control of the situation, the statement said

Aksenov said Friday that Crimea and Russia had reached a deal on financial aid for the largely Russian-speaking republic, adding his government would elaborate on a plan to stabilize the economy and the Russian aid would help restore the situation in the Black Sea peninsula.

At a cabinet meeting Saturday, Ukranian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk called on concerned parties to abandon armed conflict and resolve the crisis through peaceful means.

Yatsenyuk also urged Moscow not to provoke discord in Crimea. "We call on the government and authorities of Russia to recall their forces, and to return them to their stations," he was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

Russia's RIA news agency quoted the Russian Black Sea fleet's press service as saying the Crimean authorities and the fleet, which has a base in Crimea, have agreed to guard buildings on the Black Sea peninsula together.

Aksenov had said earlier Saturday that Russian servicemen were already guarding some buildings.

Crimea is now the focus of Ukraine's ongoing crisis after some 50 armed men carrying Russian navy flags took control Friday of the two airports in the capital of Simferopol, one day after gunmen seized the local parliament and government buildings.

Interim Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on his Facebook page Russian naval forces were behind the seizure of the two airports, though Russia denied any involvement.

Tensions escalated in the area this week following the dismissal of Kremlin-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych, who held a news conference Friday in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, not far from the Ukrainian border.

Meanwhile, Parliament Speaker Alexandr Turchynov, who is now Ukraine's acting president, urged Russian naval troops to refrain from going beyond the base of the Black Sea Fleet on the Crimea Peninsula.

Any troop movements outside the base "will be considered as military aggression," he told parliament.

In April 2010, Ukraine renewed the lease of Russia's naval base on the Crimean Peninsula for 25 years in exchange for gas price discounts.

Turchynov's remarks came a day after Putin ordered soldiers to be ready for war games near Ukraine, the Kremlin's boldest gesture since Yanukovych was ousted at the weekend.

However, Moscow denied the previously unannounced drill in its western military district, which came amid a series of increasingly strident statements about the fate of Russian citizens and interests, was linked to events in Ukraine.

The snap drills were aimed at checking the military's combat readiness and were not related to Ukraine, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.

Yanukovych not to seek Russian support	Armed group seizes airport in Crimea