President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday took legal steps to swiftly let Crimea join Russia, hours before he was to address lawmakers and governors about his plans for the Ukrainian region.
In an instruction published on the state legal website pravo.gov.ru Putin approved the drafting of a bilateral treaty with Crimea about the peninsula’s joining the Russian Federation.
The Kremlin said Putin has officially informed the Russian government and both houses of parliament of the Crimean leadership’s request to accede Russia.
He is expected to address an assembly of the upper and lower houses of parliament, as well as the governors of Russia’s 83 regions about the Crimean issue at 3pm (1100 GMT).
The Ukrainian breakaway region’s leaders are also expected to attend and Russian media speculated that the treaty might be signed on Tuesday.
Crimea’s Moscow-backed authorities said Monday that more than 96 per cent of the region’s population backed accession to Russia in a referendum on Sunday.
The vote was widely condemned by Ukraine and western countries, who accuse Russia of illegally annexing the Black Sea peninsula.
In a move unprecedented since the end of the Cold War, the United States and the European Union on Monday imposed sanctions on Moscow that include asset freezes and travel bans on senior Russian government officials.
Japan and Canada followed suit.
The Japanese government on Tuesday announced the suspension of talks with Russia on investment, space, military issues and visa reforms.
Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said that the Crimean referendum “violates the constitution of Ukraine and is not legally effective.” Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on announced further economic sanctions and additional travel bans against Ukrainian and Russian officials. The moves, he said, will serve to further isolate Russia from the international community.