Dmitry Medvedev, the first Russian leader to visit Crimea since the region controversially voted to join the Russian Federation, arrived in Simferopol bearing gifts. The prime minister and former president pledged a string of measures designed to boost the peninsula's economy, most notably Moscow's intention to make the region a low-tax, bureaucracy-light 'special economic zone.'
'As a result of joining Russia, not one resident of Crimea, not one resident of Sevastopol should lose anything. They can only gain,' Medvedev said at a special cabinet meeting in Simferopol, after touring the peninsula's main city. 'Our aim is to make the peninsula as attractive as possible to investors, so that it can generate sufficient income for its own development.'
Medvedev said outdated hospital equipment would be upgraded
Prior to the cabinet meeting, Medvedev visited a Simferopol children's hospital, telling staff that new equipment, including ambulances, would be provided. The Russia RIA Novosti news agency quoted him as saying that the hospital's standards 'significantly differed from the average Russian level.'
He also pledged an increase in salaries for municipal employees and a boost in pension payments.
Ukraine reports Russian withdrawal from border
A defense ministry spokesman in Kyiv on Monday told the AFP news agency that his staff had observed a gradual withdrawal of Russian troops from its border.
'In recent days, the Russian forces have been gradually withdrawing from the border,' the defense ministry's general staff spokesman Oleksiy Dmytrashkivskiy told AFP. 'This could be linked to a regular rotation of soldiers, or it may be linked to the Russian-US negotiations.' Dmytrashkivskiy said that the process appeared to have begun around the time of an unscheduled phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Barack Obama on Friday.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also conducted several hours of talks in Paris on Sunday, seeking to calm east-west tensions since Russia's annexation of Crimea. Their official statements after the closed-door discussions had not appeared to reveal a great change in either side's position.
Later on Monday, the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Poland were set to meet in Weimar, 130 kilometers (80 miles) west of the German city of Leipzig. The three-way talks were originally scheduled to focus on EU policy, but Crimea is likely to focus in discussions among the three NATO members.
The trio will travel straight from these overnight talks to a two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, starting on Tuesday. Plans to station more NATO troops in eastern Europe are expected to be discussed in light of developments in Crimea.
msh/jr (AFP, Reuters)
Posted by Unknown on Monday, March 31, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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