EU, US join Ukraine to condemn 'illegal' Crimean succession referendum

The European Union and the United States have joined Ukraine's government in condemning as 'illegal' Crimea's move to set up a referendum to endorse joining Russia.

The EU, meeting in Brussels, threatened 'serious consequences' if Russia did not act to de-escalate the crisis.

According to the BBC, Crimean MPs set a date of 16 March for a vote on the referendum.

The Crimean parliament said it had decided 'to enter into the Russian Federation with the rights of a subject of the Russian Federation,' the report said.

It said it had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin 'to start the procedure'.

According to the report, President Barack Obama in a telephonic conversation with Putin urged him to seek a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Ukraine.

However, Putin said that US-Russian 'relations should not be sacrificed due to disagreements over individual, albeit extremely significant, international problems'.

Obama said the Crimea referendum would 'violate the Ukrainian constitution and international law'.