Yesterday, some of the
residents of Crimea voted on whether they wanted to join Russia or
increase the autonomy of the Ukrainian peninsula. Residents could
not vote to maintaining the
status quo. According to officials, over 97 percent
of those who voted backed joining Russia. CNN
reported that many ethnic Ukrainians and Tatars boycotted the vote
and that 80 percent of those who showed up at a polling station in
the city of Bakhchysaray were not on the electoral roll. The
government in Kiev says it will not recognize the results.
The European Union and the U.S. had warned Russia that if the
referendum, which they said was illegal, went ahead there would be
consequences. Today, the E.U. announced
travel bans and asset freezes on 21 Russian and Ukrainian
officials and President Obama signed an executive order expanding
already existing sanctions that, according to the White House,
intend to “impose costs on named individuals who wield influence in
the Russian government and those responsible for the deteriorating
situation in Ukraine.” The executive order
targets seven Russian government officials, two Crimea
separatist leaders, and former Ukrainian President Viktor
Yanukovych, and former chief of staff Viktor Medvedchuk.
The news of the E.U. and American measures comes on the same day
that Russian Deputy Economy Minister Sergei Belyakov said that the
state of the Russian economy “shows clear signs of a crisis.”
According to
Reuters, many economists expect Russia to enter recession and
billions of dollars worth of capital has left the country since the
beginning of the year. However, the E.U. and U.S. actions announced
today target individuals, and The
Irish Times notes that traders believe that the sanctions
and other punitive measures from the West are mostly
symbolic.
Speaking today about the ongoing crisis in Ukraine,
Obama said that he told Russian President Vladimir Putin that
the recent Crimean referendum violated the Ukrainian constitution
and international law and said that the U.S. is willing to impose
further costs on Russian officials.
More from Reason on Ukraine here.
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