96.76 percent of Crimeans vote in favor of joining Russia

96.76 percent of Crimeans vote in favor of joining Russia

CRIMEA -- The leaders of the Crimea have said that 96.6 percent of the population of this Black Sea peninsula voted to secede from Ukraine and join Russia.

Crimean pro-Russian leader Sergei Aksionov announced the result on Monday, CNN reported, and said that "the Western powers declared the referendum illegal."

The turnout was 83 percent - a high number considering that many announced a boycott of the referendum.

The Russian Duma will soon adopt a law that would allow for Crimea to join that country, said the deputy chairman of the Duma Sergei Neverov, according to Reuters.

"The referendum results clearly showed that inhabitants of the Crimea see their future only within Russia," he said.

U.S. President Barack Obama had a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and according to reports, told him that he and his European allies "are willing to punish Moscow for violating the territorial integrity of Ukraine."

The Kremlin and the White House announced that Obama and Putin saw diplomatic options to resolve the worst crisis in relations since the end of the Cold War.

But Obama said that Russian "troops must first end their advance into Ukrainian territory," while Putin repeated the charge that the new leaders in Kiev, who came to power last month in a rebellion against elected president and a Russian ally Viktor Yanukovich, have failed to protect Russian people against Ukrainian nationalists.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said this morning on his Twitter account that London does not recognize the results of the referendum in the Crimea. He also urged the EU to react...