Polish PM urges `firm pressure` on Moscow over Ukraine

Warsaw: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Sunday urged the West to exert "firm pressure" on Moscow over its threats to Ukraine as hundreds of people protested outside the Russian embassies in Warsaw and London.

"The only way to stop Russia and also prevent tragic conflicts in this part of the world is through firm pressure and obstinacy on the part of Europe, the United States and Canada," Tusk told reporters.

Several hundred people protested in Warsaw brandishing signs comparing Russian President Vladimir Putin to Hitler and Stalin, while waving Polish, Ukrainian, EU and Belarusian flags.

"Don't Touch Ukraine", "Don't Touch Crimea" and "Free Ukraine", they chanted. Poland, which has been very active throughout the crisis in neighbouring Ukraine, called yesterday for an emergency NATO meeting to respond to the Russian military threat.

Hundreds also protested peacefully in front of the Russian embassies in Berlin and in London. British-based Ukrainians held up banners demanding "Hands Off Ukraine" and chanted "Stop the Occupation" and "Putin Is a Murderer".

In Berlin, around a dozen protesters lay down in front of a poster listing past Russian military interventions and ending with the question "Ukraine in 2014?".

British Foreign Secretary William Hague was headed to Kiev today for talks with the interim pro-Western government.

World leaders huddled for urgent consultations across global capitals after Russia's parliament voted yesterday to allow Putin to send troops into its western neighbour -- a decision US President Barack Obama branded a "violation of Ukrainian sovereignty".

In Warsaw, Tusk called for a "calm, balanced but also firm and united policy against Russia, based on disapproval of these kinds of actions and announcements by Moscow... To avoid a major conflict."

First Published: Sunday, March 02, 2014, 23:59

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