President Vladimir Putin has, in the last hour, signed a treaty to incorporate Crimea into Russia. Putin signed the law after a speech to Russia's parliament, in which he hit back at his critics. It comes after Sunday's referendum in Crimea, which saw overwhelming support for a union with Russia. He condemned Ukraine's "so-called" authorities, saying they had stolen power in a coup and had opened the way for "extremists" who would stop at nothing to determine the future of the country. Addressing a joint session of Russia's parliament, Putin said: "Those who were behind recent events, they were ... preparing a coup d'etat, another one. They were planning to seize power, stopping at nothing. Terror, murder, pogroms were used." He called them "nationalists, neo-Nazis, Russophobes and anti-Semites" adding: "It is primarily they who are deciding how Ukraine lives today. The so-called Ukrainian authorities introduced a scandalous law on the revision of the language policy, which directly violated the rights of the national minorities." He said Moscow sees Western attempts to frighten Russia with sanctions as aggression and will retaliate. Earlier Putin signed a decree which recognises Crimea as a sovereign and independent state. The Kremlin said the order would take immediate effect. euronews: the most watched news channel in Europe Subscribe! http://eurone.ws/10ZCK4a euronews is available in 14 languages: http://eurone.ws/17moBCU In English: Website: http://www.euronews.com/news Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/euronews Twitter: http://twitter.com/euronews Google+: http://google.com/+euronews VKontakte: http://vk.com/en.euronews

• published: 18 Mar 2014
• views: 64145