Russia proposed on Monday creating an international support group to mediate in the Ukraine crisis but set out goals unlikely to be acceptable to the West.
In response to western calls for a "contact group", Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that its proposed international support group would push for Ukrainian recognition of the Crimean referendum and would urge Ukraine to implement portions of a Feb. 21 peace deal.
The support group would also urge Ukraine to adopt a new constitution setting out broad powers for the country's regions, and require Ukraine to uphold military and political neutrality.
For its part, Russia's lower house of parliament will issue a statement in support of Crimea's referendum results on Tuesday; the news agency Interfax cited a deputy speaker of the house as saying.
"Tomorrow morning there will be a statement on Crimea," Interfax cited Deputy Speaker Ivan Melnikov as saying.
A Moscow-backed referendum in the southern Ukrainian region of Crimea on Sunday showed overwhelming support for joining the Russian Federation.
Crimea's parliament applied to become part of Russia, a day after a referendum in the southern Ukrainian region showed overwhelming support for joining the Russian Federation.
The parliament "made a proposal to the Russian Federation to admit the Republic of Crimea as a new subject with the status of a republic," according to a statement on its website.
A Crimean parliamentary delegation was expected to arrive in Moscow on Monday to discuss the procedures required for the Black Sea peninsula to become part of the Russian Federation.
This comes as the head of the referendum commission in Ukraine's Crimea says the final results of the Sunday vote show that 97 percent of voters have supported joining Russia.
Mikhail Malyshev said in a televised news conference on Monday that the final tally was 96.8 percent in favor of splitting from Ukraine.
The referendum was widely condemned by Western leaders, who plan to punish Russia with economic sanctions.
On another note, Ukraine's parliament, seeking to boost the country's military force in the face of Russia's takeover of the Crimea peninsula, endorsed a presidential decree to carry out a partial mobilization involving 40,000 reservists.
Andriy Parubiy, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, told parliament that 20,000 reservists would be deployed within the armed forces and the rest would be used within the newly-created National Guard.
Talks with Russia
Ukraine's acting president on Monday said Kiev was ready for talks with Russia on Moscow's takeover of Crimea, but it would never accept annexation of the peninsula.
"We are ready for talks, but will never be reconciled with the annexation of our territory," Oleksander Turchinov said in a televised address to the nation.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry earlier rejected a Russian proposal to create a contact group to mediate in the crisis and suggest changes to Ukraine's constitution.
In his address, Turchinov also said that any actions inciting mass disorder in Ukraine would been viewed as "abetting the military aggressor and a crime against the state".
International positions:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel believes Russia has isolated itself on the world stage by carrying out a referendum in the Ukrainian region of Crimea despite international rejection of the vote as illegal.
"Russia is isolated to a large degree in its recognition of this so-called referendum," Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said, pointing to Saturday's vote at the UN Security Council where 13 countries rejected the referendum as invalid, China abstained and Russia stood alone, using its power of veto.
Seibert said Germany urged Russia to refrain from any military activity on Ukrainian territory which was not agreed upon with the transition government in Kiev - though Moscow rejects the current Ukrainian government as illegal.
Meanwhile, Lithuania's foreign minister said European Union foreign ministers have agreed to impose sanctions including travel bans and asset freezes on 21 officials from Russia and Ukraine.
After a meeting lasting around three hours, the EU's 28 foreign ministers quickly reached agreement on the list of those to be sanctioned for their part in Russia's seizure of Crimea and Sunday's referendum to secede from Ukraine and join Russia.
"(Foreign Affairs Council) just agreed on sanctions - travel restrictions & assets freeze against 21 official from Ukraine & Russia," Linan Linkevicius wrote in a message on Twitter.
He added that more measures would follow in a few days, when EU leaders meet for a summit in Brussels. They are expected to expand the list to include more senior figures closer to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Similarly,
US President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on 11 Russians and Ukrainians on Monday blamed for Russia's military incursion into Crimea, including two top aides to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Obama's order freezes any assets in the United States and bans travel to the 11 individuals named as responsible for the Russian move into Crimea.
Among those sanctioned were ousted Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovich and Putin aides Vladislov Surkov and Sergei Glazyev.
In the same regard, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who was named on a list of 11 Russians and Ukrainians sanctioned by the White House suggested that the measures will not affect those without assets abroad.
"Comrade Obama, and what will you do with those who have neither accounts nor property abroad? Or didn't you think of that?" Rogozin, who is responsible for Russia's defense industry, said on his Twitter microblog.
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