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| Chuck Hagel speaks to Russian defence minister as Ukraine tensions rise | Chuck Hagel speaks to Russian defence minister as Ukraine tensions rise |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The secretary of defence, Chuck Hagel, spoke on Saturday with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, a US official told Reuters, as Russia’s President Vladimir Putin secured his parliament’s authority to invade Ukraine. | The secretary of defence, Chuck Hagel, spoke on Saturday with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, a US official told Reuters, as Russia’s President Vladimir Putin secured his parliament’s authority to invade Ukraine. |
| Asked about rumours that some US military units had been on alert over turmoil in the Crimean peninsula, the official said the US focus was on diplomatic options. There was no change in the US military’s stance, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. | Asked about rumours that some US military units had been on alert over turmoil in the Crimean peninsula, the official said the US focus was on diplomatic options. There was no change in the US military’s stance, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. |
| The official gave no details of Hagel’s conversation with Shoigu. | |
| Also on Saturday, the speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament said the chamber would ask Putin to recall Moscow’s ambassador from the US. | Also on Saturday, the speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament said the chamber would ask Putin to recall Moscow’s ambassador from the US. |
| Valentina Matviyenko, the head of the Federation Council, asked the council’s committee on foreign affairs to draw up a proposal setting out the demands to Putin. | Valentina Matviyenko, the head of the Federation Council, asked the council’s committee on foreign affairs to draw up a proposal setting out the demands to Putin. |
| The developments came a day after President Barack Obama warned that there would be “costs” if there was military intervention by Russia in Ukraine, where Moscow ally President Viktor Yanukovich was ousted last week. | |
| Senator John McCain, a leading Republican voice on foreign affairs who often advocates a more forceful approach by Washington, on Saturday called on Obama to “articulate exactly what those costs will be and to take steps urgently to impose them”. | |
| “Every moment that the United States and our allies fail to respond sends the signal to President Putin that he can be even more ambitious and aggressive in his military intervention in Ukraine,” McCain said in a statement. | |
| “There is a range of serious options at our disposal at this time without the use of military force.” | |
| Another leading Senate Republican, Bob Corker, called on Obama to lead an international response that could include sanctions. | |
| The United Nations security council was due to meet on Saturday, to discuss the situation in the Crimea. | The United Nations security council was due to meet on Saturday, to discuss the situation in the Crimea. |
| In London, the Russian ambassador was summoned to meet the British foreign minister, William Hague. Hague said that Russian action in the Crimea was a grave threat to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine. | In London, the Russian ambassador was summoned to meet the British foreign minister, William Hague. Hague said that Russian action in the Crimea was a grave threat to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine. |
| The Nato secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said Russia must respect Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and borders, including with regard to movement of Russian forces in Ukraine. | |
| “Urgent need for de-escalation in Crimea. Nato allies continue to coordinate closely,” Rasmussen said. | |
| European Union foreign ministers will hold an emergency meeting Monday to discuss the crisis. The EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said the decision by the Russian parliament to authorise the use of Russian forces in neighbouring Ukraine was an unwarranted escalation of tensions. | |
| “I therefore call upon the Russian Federation not to dispatch such troops but to promote its views through peaceful means,” Ashton said in a written statement on Saturday. | |
| Ashton added that she would meet with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov after Monday’s EU meeting, to discuss the bloc’s response to the situation in Ukraine. |