Ukraine is preparing to pull its remaining
military personnel and their families from the breakaway region of
Crimea, effectively conceding defeat after Russia said it would annex
the strategic peninsula.
The diplomatic
fallout threatened to spill into other hot spots as well, as Russia
warned for the first time Wednesday that multiparty talks over Iran's
nuclear program could be jeopardized by the growing East-West divide.
Tension
in Crimea mounted as Russia's parliament moved to complete legislation
to formally absorb the region, despite Western sanctions against a short
list of Kremlin advisers and Crimean officials behind the secession
push.
But President
Barack Obama,
who along with Europe has threatened additional sanctions, made clear that he doesn't want to go to war over Crimea.
"We
are not going to be getting into a military excursion in Ukraine," Mr.
Obama said in an interview with a local NBC station in San Diego. "What
we are going to do is mobilize all of our diplomatic resources to make
sure that we've got a strong international coalition that sends a clear
message."
Moscow, however, gave no sign of backing away from the defiant stance outlined by President
Vladimir Putin's
defiant speech a day earlier.
The
announcement in Kiev of a possible evacuation from Crimea came after
pro-Russian forces early Wednesday took over Ukraine's naval
headquarters in Sevastopol and detained the base's commander.
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