KIEV, March 17. /ITAR-TASS/. A bill on Ukraine’s course to sever diplomatic relations with Russia, denounce Ukrainian-Russian treaties and apply for entry to the European Union and NATO was on Monday registered in the secretariat of the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, on an initiative from radical MP Oleh Lyashko.
The draft law contains a demand to Rada-appointed Acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov to “declare full combat alert of the armed forces, conduct the nationwide mobilization of Ukrainian nationals liable for military service and create militia units.”
The bill also urges the self-proclaimed Ukrainian authorities to ask the governments of the United States and other NATO member countries “to provide the maximum possible material and technical assistance in the form of modern military hardware and armaments,” “sever diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation” and impose a visa regime.
The proposal also includes denunciation of the friendship and cooperation deal, as well as the agreement on the stay of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Crimea, which is valid until 2042. The bill says the cost of Russian natural gas transit via Ukraine should be raised twelve-fold to $500 per 1,000 cubic meters and proposes terminating the transit should Russia refuse to pay the price.
In line with the draft law, the Ukrainian law enforcement should adopt “tough measures to stop any separatist actions” in eastern Ukraine. The bill also proposes banning Russian TV broadcasts and press distribution. It proposes stripping Ukrainians taking part in “separatist rallies” of Ukrainian citizenship, bringing them to criminal account and other measures.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych left Ukraine in February after a coup in his country. He told reporters in southern Russia last Tuesday that he remained the legitimate Ukrainian leader despite “an anti-constitutional seizure of power by armed radicals.” Russia considers Yanukovych the legitimate Ukrainian president.
Crimea held a plebiscite on whether to secede from Ukraine and accede to Russia on Sunday. About 97% of voters chose the option of accession to the Russian Federation. Crimea’s parliament, the Supreme Council, on Monday declared Crimea an independent sovereign state.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said early on Monday that Crimea’s decision to hold the referendum in the republic where most residents are Russians was in line with international law and the UN Charter.
The self-proclaimed new Ukrainian authorities and the West have cried foul over the Crimean referendum claiming the vote was illegal.