Putin Asserts Right to Use Force in East Ukraine!

• Putin asserts right to use force in east Ukraine! 
  by Amelia Gentleman, theguardian.com 
  President says he hopes he does not have to exercise military force as he points out eastern Ukraine was once part of Russia
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  Vladimir Putin has sought to mobilise history in support of Russia‘s designs on Ukraine, reminding the world that the east of the country was once part of Russia, and warning that his parliament had given him the right to intervene militarily if confrontation escalates.
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  In a four-hour, meticulously stagecrafted question and answer session with Russian citizens on live television, Putin denied that Russian forces are on the ground in the towns and cities of eastern Ukraine, parts of which have been taken over in recent days by armed men, but pointedly did not rule out sending in troops in future.
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  Accusing the Kiev authorities of pulling the country into an “abyss”, he called on Ukraine to pull back its heavy artillery from the east of the country, asking: “Who are you going to use it against? Have you completely lost your marbles?”
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  “The Federation Council granted the president the right to use military force in Ukraine,” he said, referring to the upper house of parliament. “I really hope that I do not have to exercise this right and that we are able to solve all today’s pressing issues via political and diplomatic means,” Putin said.
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  Putin referred to the region in question by its tsarist name “Novorossiya”, or “New Russia”, as it was referred to in the 19th century under tsarist rule, and suggested it was a historical mistake to hand it over to Ukraine.
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  “It’s new Russia,” he told millions of watchers “Kharkiv, Lugansk, Donetsk, Odessa were not part of Ukraine in tsarist times, they were transferred in 1920. Why? God knows. Then for various reasons these areas were gone, and the people stayed there – we need to encourage them to find a solution.”
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  Asked on several occasions during the annual public address whether Russia had sent troops into eastern Ukraine over the past few days, Putin said: “It’s all nonsense, there are no special units, special forces or instructors there.” The bands of men, in unmarked green military uniforms, who have seized tanks from Ukrainian forces were local residents, he said.
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