DHAKA: With a historic sweep of his pen, Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a treaty Tuesday to annex Crimea, describing the move as correcting past injustice and a necessary response to what he called Western encroachment upon Russia’s vital interests.

In an emotional 40-minute speech that was televised live from the Kremlin, Putin said ‘in people’s hearts and minds, Crimea has always been an integral part of Russia’.

He dismissed Western criticism of Sunday’s Crimean referendum, in which residents of the strategic Black Sea peninsula overwhelmingly backed breaking off from Ukraine and joining Russia, as a manifestation of the West’s double standards.

‘Russia does not want Ukraine to be divided further’, reports Daily Hurriyet

At the same time, the Russian leader said his nation didn’t want to move into other regions of Ukraine, saying ‘we don’t want division of Ukraine’.

Thousands of Russian troops have been massed along Ukraine’s eastern border for the last few weeks, Russia says that was for military training while the US and Europe view the troops as an intimidation tactic.

BDST: 1935 HRS, MAR 18, 2014