Crimea Referendum

• UN General Assembly declares Crimea secession vote invalid

  The UN General Assembly on Thursday passed a non-binding resolution declaring invalid Crimea's Moscow-backed referendum earlier this month on seceding from Ukraine, in a vote that Western nations said highlighted Russia's isolation.

• China urges restraint in Ukraine, avoids comment on Crimea vote

  A top Chinese diplomat repeated Beijing's call for calm and restraint in Ukraine on Monday, but ducked comment on a referendum in Crimea after the region's Moscow-backed leaders declared a 96-percent vote in favour of joining Russia.

• Moscow wins Crimea vote, West readies sanctions

  Crimea's Moscow-backed leaders declared a 96-percent vote in favour of quitting Ukraine and annexation by Russia in a referendum Western powers said was illegal and will bring immediate sanctions.

• Britain condemns Crimea vote as a 'mockery'

  Britain on Sunday slammed a vote in Crimea on breaking away from Ukraine as a "mockery" of democracy and refused to recognise the referendum's outcome.

• Crimea vote fully legal, Vladimir Putin tells Barack Obama

  President Vladimir Putin told US President Barack Obama on Sunday the referendum on Crimea joining Russia was fully legal, but the two leaders also agreed to work together to find ways out of the Ukraine crisis, the Kremlin said.

• Armed police burst into Crimean hotel on eve of referendum

  Armed police burst into a hotel in Simferopol, the capital of Crimea, on Saturday night on the eve of a referendum aimed at deciding whether the Ukrainian region leaves Ukraine and becomes part of Russia.

• Crimea holds vote to join Russia as turmoil sweeps Ukraine

  Crimea braced for a referendum on Sunday on whether to leave Ukraine and join Russia, escalating a Cold War-style security crisis on Europe's eastern edge that has left diplomacy in disarray.

• Russia vetoes UN resolution against Crimea referendum

  Russia on Saturday vetoed a U.N. Security Council draft resolution that declares a planned referendum on the status of Ukraine's Crimea region "can have no validity" and urges nations and international organizations not to recognize it.

• Crimea referendum in facts and figures

  Crimea's referendum on Sunday to break from Ukraine and join Russia is regarded as illegitimate by the West but seen in Moscow as an example of self-determination like Kosovo leaving Serbia.

• Germany warns Russia of further EU sanctions if Moscow doesn't step back

  Germany said it assumes that Sunday's referendum in Crimea will be followed by steps to absorb the region into Russia and warned the EU will be forced to consider further, financial sanctions if Moscow does not change course.

• Crimea referendum is 'illegal': Merkel tells Putin

  German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday that she considered the referendum being held in Crimea this month on joining Russia was "illegal".