Kiev: US President Barack Obama told Russia on Friday to pull its troops back from Ukraine and stop escalating a crisis that has already redrawn the map of Europe amid the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War.
Obama`s blunt message added further urgency to a standoff that has seen NATO reinforce positions along Russia`s frontier in response to anxiety among the ex-Soviet satellite nations about the Kremlin`s new expansionist mood.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday for the first time confirmed that his forces were directly involved in this month`s military intervention in Crimea -- the initial step of what the new pro-Western leaders in Kiev fear is a plan to annex an even greater part of Ukraine.
Putin`s defence minister has assured Washington that Russia had no desire to push forces beyond the Black Sea peninsula it seized after last month`s fall of a Moscow-backed regime that kept Ukraine firmly tied to the Kremlin.
But Obama told the US broadcaster CBS that "it is well known and well acknowledged that you have seen a range of (Russian) troops massing along that border under the guise of military exercises."
A top security official in Kiev this week estimated there were now 100,000 Russian soldiers positioned around Ukraine -- a figure neither confirmed nor denied by Moscow.
Obama said the Russian military buildup "may simply be an effort to intimidate Ukraine or it may be that they have got additional plans."
And he insisted that Russia needed "to move back those troops and to begin negotiations directly with the Ukrainian government, as well as the international community."Putin has refused to do either and has instead taken quick steps to absorb Crimea -- a move declared illegitimate by a non-binding UN General Assembly referendum on Thursday that highlighted Russia`s growing isolation on the global stage.
The Kremlin chief -- more popular at home now than at any point since his 2012 election to a third term -- added to the patriotic fervour sweeping Russia by congratulating the troops involved in the Crimea swoop.
"The recent events in Crimea were a serious test. They demonstrated the new capacities of our armed forces in terms of quality and the high moral spirit of the personnel," Putin said at a televised military ceremony.
He then thanked the "commanders and servicemen of the Black Sea Fleet and other units deployed in Crimea for their restraint and personal courage."
The seemingly offhand remark carried great weight because Putin had previously insisted that only "local self-defence forces" were involved in the rapid succession of raids on Ukraine`s army and naval installations.
Putin`s initial claim prompted US Secretary of State John Kerry to shake his head and remark with genuine surprise in his voice during a March 4 visit to Kiev: "He really denied there were Russian forces in Crimea?"The interim leaders in Kiev have been trying to pull Ukraine out of its worst post-Soviet crisis by securing an urgent economic rescue package from the West and setting the stage for snap presidential polls on May 25 that could unite the culturally splintered nation behind one democratically elected leader.
They managed in the first task on Thursday by winning an IMF-backed pledge of $27 billion in international aid over the next two years.
The race to succeed ousted president Viktor Yanukovych meanwhile heated up with the entry of his arch-rival Yulia Tymoshenko into a crowded field of contenders ready to tighten Kiev`s embrace of the West.
Tymoshenko`s decision to run for president encapsulates the spectacular scale of change that has swept over the nation of 46 million since it was first hit by waves of deadly pro-Europe protests four months ago.
The 53-year-old -- her hair bleached and braided in a peasant style meant to appeal to her Ukrainian nationalist base -- was released from a disputed jail sentence within hours of parliament`s decision to strip Yanukovych of power on February 22.
Yanukovych has turned for many into a symbol of the cronyism and corruption that has kept Ukraine from enjoying the growth and living standards of other Eastern European states that fell under Kremlin rule after World War II.
The deposed leader added fuel to the election-day fire by calling on Friday for every region to hold its own sovereignty referendum following the Kremlin`s annexation of Ukraine`s Russian-majority Crimean peninsula.
"Demand a (May 25) referendum on determining the status of every region in Ukraine," Yanukovych said in a statement quoted by Russia`s ITAR-TASS news agency.But Yanukovych`s impact on Ukrainian voters appears to have diminished beyond repair since his flight to Russia and he will play no part in the presidential vote itself.
But Tymoshenko will also have ground to make up. An opinion poll published by four respected Ukrainian research firms this week put her in third place with about eight percent of the prospective vote.
Chocolate baron Petro Poroshenko -- the only prominent Ukrainian tycoon to join protesters at the Kiev barricades -- ranked first with the backing of almost a quarter of the respondents.
Former heavyweight boxing champion turned opposition leader Vitali Klitschko was second with almost nine percent.
Poroshenko and Klitschko are allies who vowed to work together after meeting Thursday in London with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague.
Klitschko has never hidden his presidential ambitions but is yet to formally throw his hat into the race. His UDAR (Punch) party also meets Saturday.
Some analysts and Ukrainian media believe that the towering sports star may instead try to become the mayor of Kiev and give Poroshenko -- who could either run as an independent or representing his tiny Solidarity group -- a clearer shot at the presidency.
