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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Rebels appeal to join Russia after vote |
| 2014-05-14 |
| [The Peninsula] Rebels in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region appealed yesterday to join Russia after what they claimed were resounding victories in independence referendums. Moscow said it "respects" the result of the weekend votes on self-rule, which were denounced by authorities in Kiev as a "criminal farce" and by the West. But Moscow left the door open to a negotiated solution, calling for talks between Kiev and the rebels in the industrial regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, home to seven million of Ukraine's 46 million people. The Kremlin's move allayed fears Moscow might move to quickly annex the territories, as it did earlier this year after a similar vote in Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula of Crimea. But tensions remained high in the worst crisis in relations between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War, and Germany announced plans for a diplomatic mission to Ukraine. |
| Posted by:Fred |