Ukraine threatens to seize Russian assets

Ukraine ratcheted up its standoff with the Kremlin today by threatening to nationalise Russian property in response to Crimea's claims to its own assets in the breakaway Black Sea peninsula.
President Vladimir Putin today signed a treaty making Crimea part of Russia following the flashpoint region's overwhelming vote in favour of a break from Ukraine and return to Kremlin rule.
The predominantly Russian-speaking peninsula's switch of allegiance has not been recognised by any other country and has been condemned as illegal by the new Western-backed administration that toppled pro-Moscow authorities in Kiev last month.
The self-declared rulers of Crimea -- an underdeveloped region of two million people with large offshore energy reserves -- announced a number of measures yesterday aimed at severing their ties with Kiev and shoring up the creaking economy in the short term.

These included a claim to the pipelines as well as offshore oil and natural gas platforms of Ukraine's state-owned Chornomorneftegaz and Ukrtransgaz energy firms.
The Crimean authorities also threatened to nationalise several Ukrainian banks.

Ukraine's Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko called the measures illegal and warned Russia that it faced reprisals should it back Crimea's moves.
"If the Russian Federation officially recognises (Crimea's) actions, then Ukraine reserves the right to take adequate steps to compensate these losses at the expense of property belonging to the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine and in other states," Petrenko said in a statement.

"We are going to do this in strict accordance with Ukrainian and international law," he added.
Petrenko's statement did not specify what property he was referring to or how Ukraine intended to claim ownership of Russian assets in other states.
Russia's state-owned natural gas giant Gazprom has a vast pipeline network running through Ukraine that feeds clients in southern and western Europe.