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March 13, 2014

Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk (third right) poses for pictures at a meeting with members of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including chairman Senator Bob Menendez and ranking member Senator Bob Corker at the US Capitol in Washington yesterday. Reuters pic, March 13, 2014.Ukraine was set today to form a National Guard against Russia's expansionist threat after US President Barack Obama gave firm backing to the new leader from Kiev in a hardening Cold War-style standoff with the Kremlin.

The Verkhovna Rada parliament was expected to support the initial mobilisation of reservists and creation of a new force of at least 20,000 volunteers who could keep Russian troops from advancing beyond the Crimean peninsula they seized at the start of the month.

National Security and Defence Council chief Andriy Parubiy said the new guard would "ensure state security, defend the borders, and eliminate terrorist groups" a term many in Kiev use to call the well-armed militias who patrol Crimea alongside Russian troops.

The flaring crisis on the eastern edge of Europe was sparked by the ouster last month of a pro-Kremlin regime that prompted President Vladimir Putin to seek and win the right to use force against a neighbour for the first time since a brief 2008 war with Georgia.

The new more nationalist but pro-European team that rose to power in Kiev on the back of the deadly popular uprising is viewed with derision by Putin and increasing warmth by leaders in the West.

Putin's March 1 decision to order troops into Crimea for the "protection" of the Russian-speaking majority there now threatens to bring down waves of political and economic sanctions that could leave the Kremlin more isolated from the West than at any point since the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall.

But Russia's parliament is still due to consider legislation next week simplifying the process for the annexation of Crimea a strong possibility after the Black Sea region holds a hotly disputed referendum on Sunday on switching over to Kremlin rule.

The European Union is due to consider travel bans and asset freezes on Monday against Russian officials held responsible for threatening Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Brussels is also expected next week to offer Ukraine a chance to sign an historic EU trade pact whose abrupt November rejection in favour of closer ties with Russia sparked the initial wave of Kiev unrest.

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