Putin Asserts Right to Use Force in Eastern Ukraine -

 NYTimes.com  04.17.2014

MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia emphasized on Thursday that the upper chamber of Parliament had authorized him to use military force if necessary in eastern Ukraine, and he asserted Russia’s historical claim to the territory in language not often used before, signaling a new and more aggressive policy.

Mr. Putin repeatedly referred to eastern Ukraine as “New Russia” — as the area north of the Black Sea was known after it was conquered by the Russian Empire in the late 1700s. He said only “God knows” why it became part of Ukraine in 1920.

Speaking in a televised question-and-answer show, Mr. Putin also admitted for the first time that Russian armed forces had been deployed in Crimea, the disputed peninsula Russia annexed last month immediately after a large majority of the population voted in a referendum to secede from Ukraine. But he dismissed suggestions that Russian troops were behind the unrest in eastern Ukraine.

Mr. Putin’s remarks on eastern Ukraine came as officials from Russia, the United States, Europe and the new government in Kiev were meeting in Geneva in four-way negotiations aimed at resolving the political crisis.

If his bravado performance seemed out of sync with the diplomatic niceties in Geneva, it plainly underscored Mr. Putin’s unflinching views on Ukraine and his steadfast refusal to be pressured by the West. The tentative Geneva accord did not address Russia’s annexation of Crimea, nor did it require the Kremlin to withdraw troops massed on the Ukrainian border.

In recent days, pro-Russian demonstrators have caused widespread unrest throughout the eastern part of the country, seizing police stations and other government buildings and forming roadblocks. There have been several outbursts of violence, including a firefight at a Ukrainian military base overnight in which at least three pro-Russian militiamen were killed.

During the question-and-answer show, Mr. Putin asserted that he had the authority to invade Ukraine, but said he hoped that it would not be necessary.

“I remind you that the Federation Council has given the president the right to use armed forces in Ukraine,” he said, referring to the upper house of Parliament. “I really hope that I do not have to exercise this right and that by political and diplomatic means we will be able to solve all of the sharp problems.”

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