Crisis In Ukraine; Interview with Anders Fogh Rasmussen
BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: And tonight, turned away for a second time -- armed gunmen stop European officials from entering Crimea once again. We reflect tonight on what has been a dramatic escalation of events in Ukraine with reverberations around the globe. Plus...</s>ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSEN, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: It's important for us to send that very clear message to Russia...</s>ANDERSON: NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen tells me just what NATO's role might be in ending this crisis. Also this hour, allegations from Oscar Pistorius's ex-girlfriend. We will be live in Pretoria with how that testimony went over in court. And meet the Belgian designer who got heads turning at Paris Fashion Week.</s>ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN London, this is Connect the World with Becky Anderson.</s>ANDERSON: Very good evening to you from London. Kiev may soon get a whole lot colder. The Russian gas provider Gazprom says Ukraine hasn't paid its bills for February. And it won't deliver the country's gas for free. Meantime, Russia is warning the U.S. against hasty action. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says any U.S. actions against Russia will, quote, "inevitably boomerang on the United States." Well, earlier Russia's parliament backed Crimean lawmakers who want to see the region split from Ukraine and join Russia. And in Crimea itself, there are signs that pro-Moscow authorities in Crimea are clamping down on opposition. At least two Ukrainian TV channels have been blocked in the area. These are fast moving events. Apologies for the sort of machinations, as it were, of the sort of minute by minute movements here, but they are important and they do have global reverberations, as it were. Let's get you to Kiev. Michael Holmes watching developments from there. And Michael, the lights are still on in Kiev, I can see behind you there, but there is no denying the issue of Ukraine and its relationship as an energy customer, as it were, of Russia. And that is a pressing one. I mean, you know, it can't pay its bills. Another string to what is an increasingly complicated relationship. What is the mood where you are?</s>MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I can tell you right now -- you can probably hear, I imagine behind me -- the mood is patriotic. The national anthem being sung yet again. It's sung every hour on the hour from a stage there on Independence Sqaure. People here are worried about what's happening in Crimea. Obviously they don't agree with it. They're fervently against it. One man told me today down there that it's a joke, he said. It's a joke, he said. How can you have a referendum looking down the barrel of a Russian gun. That's the sort of attitude you're hearing around here. People don't want to lose Crimea from Ukraine. And they feel that what's happening there is Russian interference. They say it very openly. And they fear that any referendum that would take place would not be free, nor fair. Now then there's a whole other political argument about it. The Ukrainian government, the interim government, they say that such a vote would not only be a joke it would be illegal under the Ukrainian constitution and wouldn't matter. Let's get to the point of the talks. We know that the U.S. President Barack Obama spoke with the Russian President Vladimir Putin last night. Don't know what came of that, but possibly nothing. They're talking past each other pretty much. There are also those talks we saw going on in Brussels. Well, interestingly this afternoon I managed to speak with the Ukrainian foreign minister Andriy Deschytsia, he just got back from Paris where the diplomats were scrambling to get consensus on what to do about the Ukrainian crisis. Despite being in the same city at the same time, Becky. Deschytsia says efforts to speak with the Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov came to nothing. And he says not talking at the moment helps no one. Have a listen.</s>ANDRIY DESCHYTSIA, UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: We do believe that the only way for us to talk with Russians is a dialogue. We want to continue this dialogue that used to be between Ukraine and Russia from previous years and previous governments. If we are not talking, then there is a lot of suspicions and tension arise. And it's not good for people, also, if the officials are not talking. So -- and of course it's not for the benefit of all -- of all countries in the region.</s>HOLMES: And interestingly, Becky, a little sidebar. While we were there at the foreign ministry, which is a rather grand building about a mile from here, we saw a giant -- and I mean, giant, European Union flag being erected on the facade of that building, perhaps a message in that, Becky.</s>ANDERSON: Fascinating stuff. This story is never ending at this point. Michael, thank you for that. Some news just into CNN. Crimea TV reporting that Russians have stormed a Ukrainian air force base in Crimea. They were said to be ramming the gates with a truck. Anna Coren is there in the regional capital this evening. Anna, what do you know of the details of this attack?</s>ANNA COREN, CNN INTERANTIONAL CORREPSONDENT: Yeah, a few details, Becky. But it would appear that this confrontation is ongoing. We have confirmation from the Ukrainian defense military, I should say, saying that these Russian Cossack soldiers have been surrounding this army base -- I beg your pardon, air force base down in Sevastopol, which is about an hour- and-a-half from where we are. That of course is where the Russia's Black Sea naval base is. And these Cossack soldiers rammed the gate with a Russian military truck. There are about 40 of them now on the base. There are 100 Ukrainian soldiers who have barricaded themselves inside apparently negotiations are ongoing. But that is the information that we have received today. We're trying to get more details, Becky.</s>ANDERSON: As you do, we'll come back to you. Anna, for the time being, thank you for that. Well, for a second day international monitors trying to get into Crimea were stopped. Masked men carrying rifles blocked the group of unarmed Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe observers at a checkpoint. Matthew Chance was with them as they were turned away. This is his report.</s>MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: All right, well, we're here at this checkpoint near the Crimean peninsula. I can tell you, the monitors, they're from the OSCE, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. They have just been turned back again from this checkpoint after trying to negotiate with those pro- Russian gunmen over there, who are stopping this mission of the OSCE from entering Crimea. Trying to negotiate with them to let them through, at least a portion of them through. That's not been permitted. And, of course, that's caused a great deal of anger amongst the crowds that have gathered here. Many of them ethnic Tartar, some of the ethnic Ukrainians, as well. But they're obviously extremely angry that the mission has not been permitted through and the mission members themselves very frustrated as well. But again, it's underlying that situation that exists in Crimea, that it's the pro-Russian gunmen there, armed with (inaudible) assault rifles, their faces covered, that are in essentially operational control certainly at this check point, and they're not permitting these international monitors, as I say, to go through.</s>ANDERSON: Matthew Chance. Well, NATO has been absolutely clear in its stance that Russia has breached international law in Ukraine. Russia has hit back saying NATO's involvement is only escalating tensions further. Well, earlier I spoke to the secretary-general of the organization Anders Fogh Rasmussen. He told me about NATO's view on the crisis and what we can expect to see on the ground.</s>RASMUSSEN: You won't see NATO forces on the ground in Ukraine. And let me stress there's no military solution to the crisis in Ukraine. And we all agree that. I had a meeting with the Ukrainian prime minister, he also agreed. And NATO as an alliance can help Ukraine modernize and strengthen their armed forces through partnership activity. It's important for us to send that very clear message to Russia and on the line that Russia must withdraw troops to barracks and bases. We need international observers in Ukraine and we need a direct dialogue between Moscow and Kiev.</s>ANDERSON: Russia, sir, has said that you have shown a biased and a prejudiced approach that is adding additional tension in the crisis over Ukraine. Your response.</s>RASMUSSEN: This intervention is a clear breach of international law. It's also a clear breach of the fundamental principles upon which we have built the NATO-Russia relationship and that's why we have responded and now suspended practical -- or planning practical cooperation with Russia until our foreign ministers meet in April.</s>ANDERSON: This decision to suspend combined operations with the Russians on removing Syria's chemical weapons has created real concern, concern that you are encouraging more of a security threat to the region. How do you respond to that?</s>RASMUSSEN: First of all, let me stress that the decision to suspend planning for a joint NATO-Russia escort mission does not affect the destruction of chemical weapons, that destruction will take place anyway, but Russia will not participate in the escort, the maritime escort of the U.S. vessel.</s>ANDERSON: But this -- this is a key message, and a provocative one. The very notion that this message from NATO to Russia could create further security concerns across the region surely is one that you are concerned about.</s>RASMUSSEN: It's absolutely not a provocative answer. The provocation action is taken by Russia, by intervention in Ukraine in Crimea and this is a breach of international law and that's why we are participating as NATO in building an increased international pressure on Russia.</s>ANDERSON: The further you push Russia away from the sort of cooperation that we are -- what we have seen in the past few months, the less likely it is that they will help provide a solution in Syria. And our viewers will be well aware that their relationship with the Syrian government is a crucial one in providing any kind of solution going forward.</s>RASMUSSEN: We are not pushing away Russia, but Russia is distancing itself from the international community. The Russian intervention in Ukraine is in contradiction with its international obligations and obviously that intervention cannot be unanswered.</s>ANDERSON: That's the NATO chief talking to me just before the show. And we've got plenty more on Ukraine coming up tonight, including a closer look at the Crimea facts. I'm going to speak to the director of the Eurasia group Alexander Clement. He visited both Ukraine and Russia last week. Let me get more perspective about why Crimea is so important to both sides. So why do we care, I guess. And much more on the media battle that's unfolding in the region, how Crimean officials are apparently trying to silence the opposition. Still to come tonight, silencing their critics, how Crimea's separatist leaders are clamping down on press freedom. Plus, South Africans riveted as a celebrity murder trial continues. The latest from Pretoria.