REPORT: About 93 pct of voters in Crimea back union with Russia ...

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About 93 percent of voters in Ukraine's Crimea region supported union with Russia on Sunday, Russian state news agency RIA quoted an exit poll as showing.

Polling stations in Crimea closed at 1800 GMT. Another Russian news agency, Interfax, said voter turnout had exceeded 80 percent.

The exit poll cited by RIA was conducted by the Crimean Institute of Political and Social Research.

Earlier, the defense ministries of Ukraine and Russia have agreed on a truce in Crimea until March 21, Ukraine's acting defense minister said on Sunday.

"An agreement has been reached with (Russia's) Black Sea Fleet and the Russian Defense Ministry on a truce in Crimea until March 21," Ihor Tenyukh told journalists on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting.

"No measures will be taken against our military facilities in Crimea during that time. Our military sites are therefore proceeding with a replenishment of reserves."

Also on Sunday, Russia is continuing its build-up of troops in Ukraine's Crimea and they now number up to 22,000 servicemen, Ukraine's acting defense minister said.

The minister, Ihor Tenyukh, in an interview with Interfax news agency, said that, under agreements covering the basing of Russia's Black Sea fleet in Crimea, Russia had set a limit of 12,500 for the number of its servicemen in Crimea for 2014.

"Unfortunately, in a very short period of time, this 12,500 has grown to 22,000. This is a crude violation of the bilateral agreements and is proof that Russia has unlawfully brought its troops onto the territory of Crimea," Tenyukh said.

The figure had stood at 18,400 on Friday, he told the agency.

"We are seeing an increase in the number of Russian servicemen in Crimea," he said. "And the Ukrainian armed forces are therefore taking appropriate measures along the southern borders."

France:

France on Sunday demanded Russia immediately take measures to reduce "pointless and dangerous" tensions in Ukraine, calling the secession referendum held in the Crimea region illegal.

"(Russia) must recognise the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in a statement. "France calls on the Russian Federation to immediately take measures that will avoid a pointless and dangerous escalation in Ukraine."

He added that the referendum in Crimea was illegal and went against the Ukrainian constitution especially given that it took place with the threat of Russian military force.

White House:

The White House on Sunday rejected the referendum in Ukraine's Crimea region and said Russia will pay a price for its military intervention in the region through sanctions and increased instability.

"As the United States and our allies have made clear, military intervention and violation of international law will bring increasing costs for Russia - not only due to measures imposed by the United States and our allies but also as a direct result of Russia's own destabilizing actions," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.

"In this century, we are long past the days when the international community will stand quietly by while one country forcibly seizes the territory of another," he said.

EU's Barroso, Van Rompuy:

The secession referendum in Ukraine's Crimea is illegal and illegitimate and its outcome will not be recognised, The European Union's top officials said in a joint statement on Sunday.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy also called on Russia to withdraw its armed forces to their pre-crisis numbers and to usual areas of deployment.

EU foreign ministers will decide on possible measures at a meeting in Brussels on Monday.

Lavrov, Kerry:

The United States told Russia on Sunday that it would not accept the results of Crimea's referendum on seceding from Ukraine and it continued to urge a political resolution on Moscow, a senior U.S. State Department official said.

The official, describing a telephone conversation between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday morning, urged Russia to back constitutional reform in Ukraine that would protect the rights of minorities such as Crimea's Russian-speaking population.

This comes after Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Kerry agreed to seek a solution to crisis in Ukraine by pushing for constitutional reforms there, the Russian foreign ministry said.

It did not go into details on the kind of reforms needed except to say they should come "in a generally acceptable form and while taking into the account the interests of all regions of Ukraine".

In their second phone conversation in two days, Lavrov also urged Kerry to use the influence of the United States to encourage authorities in Kiev to stop "massive lawlessness" against Russian-speaking population.

"Sergei Viktorovich Lavrov and John Kerry agreed to continue work to find a resolution on Ukraine through a speedy launch of constitutional reform with the support of international community," the ministry said in a statement.

Kremlin:

The Kremlin said there was no reason to adjust Russia's foreign policy in response to criticism of its stance on Ukraine by other G8 nations, according to an Itar-TASS news agency report on Sunday.

"Statements - that's not a reason for any (policy) adjustments," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, according to Itar-TASS.

Merkel, Putin:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Russian President Vladimir Putin more Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) observers should be sent to Ukraine, a plan he welcomed, Merkel's spokesman said on Sunday.

"The chancellor proposed swiftly expanding the existing OSCE presence in Ukraine and sending a bigger number of observers into hot spots, especially in East Ukraine," Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement about a phone call between the two leaders.

Russian President Putin also told German Chancellor Merkel that the referendum in Ukraine's Crimea complied with international law, the Kremlin said in a statement.

Putin promised to respect Crimeans' decision, the Kremlin added, as people cast their votes on whether to break away from Ukraine and join Russia.

The statement said Putin also used his phone call with Merkel to also express his concerns about an escalation of tensions he said were caused by radical groups in the southeastern regions of Ukraine in "connivance with Kiev's authorities".

"Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin drew attention to the fact that the will of the population of the peninsula is being implemented in full compliance with international law," the statement said.

Yatseniuk:

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk vowed on Sunday to track down and bring to justice all those promoting separatism in its Russian-controlled region of Crimea "under the cover of Russian troops".

"I want to say above all ... to the Ukrainian people: Let there be no doubt, the Ukrainian state will find all those ringleaders of separatism and division who now, under the cover of Russian troops, are trying to destroy Ukrainian independence," he told a cabinet meeting as the region voted in a referendum on becoming a part of Russia.

"We will find all of them - if it takes one year, two years - and bring them to justice and try them in Ukrainian and international courts. The ground will burn beneath their feet."