PARIS/MOSCOW: With a sweep of his pen, President Vladimir Putin added Crimea to the map of Russia on Tuesday, describing the move as correcting past injustice and responding to what he called Western encroachment upon Russia's vital interests. In an emotional 40-minute speech televised live from the Kremlin, Putin said "in people's hearts and minds, Crimea has always been an integral part of Russia." He dismissed Western criticism of Sunday's Crimean referendum in which residents of the strategic Black Sea peninsula overwhelmingly backed breaking off from Ukraine and joining Russia as a manifestation of the West's double standards. But the Russian leader insisted his nation has no intention to invade other regions of Ukraine, saying "we don't want a division of Ukraine, we don't need that."

Putin referred to Ukraine as a state born out of an illegal secession from the Soviet Union. He also argued that Tuesday's Ukraine includes "regions of Russia's historic south" and was created on a whim by the Bolsheviks. Meanwhile, France's foreign minister on Tuesday said that leaders of the Group of Eight world powers have suspended Russia's participation in the club amid tensions over Ukraine and Russia's incursion into Crimea. The other seven members of the group had already suspended preparations for a G8 summit that Russia is scheduled to host in June in Sochi.

France's foreign minister Laurent Fabius went further on Tuesday, saying on Europe-1 radio that "concerning the G8 ... we decided to suspend Russia's participation, and it is envisaged that all the other countries, the seven leading countries, will unite without Russia." Fabius did not give further details. The US and European Union on Tuesday announced new sanctions against Russia over its actions in the Crimean peninsula. Reacting to the criticisms and actions by the west, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the west has "cheated Russia and crossed the line on Ukraine".

In a fast-moving sequence of events following Crimea's controversial secession referendum on Sunday, the Kremlin said Crimea was now considered part of Russia and no longer Ukrainian territory, shrugging off strong international objections. "In the hearts and minds of people, Crimea has always been and remains an inseparable part of Russia," Putin said in an emotional address broadcast on television. The move, which came sooner than expected, risks plunging the West and Russia into a crisis not seen since the Cold War and sent shock waves through the new authorities in Ukraine who took over after the ousting of pro-Kremlin president Viktor Yanukovych last month.

Putin signed the treaty with Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov and other Crimean leaders at a ceremony at the Kremlin attended by both houses of parliament. Lawmakers, who still have to formally ratify the treaty, broke into applause and cheers after the signing. "The Republic of Crimea is considered to be part of Russia from the date of the signing of the treaty," the Kremlin said. Mikhail Gorbachev, former Soviet president, has hailed Crimea's vote to join Russia as a "happy event". Gorbachev said in remarks carried on Tuesday by online newspaper Slon.ru that the vote offered the Crimean residents the freedom of choice and justly reflected their will.

He said that Sunday's referendum showed that "people really wanted to return to Russia" and was a "happy event". Gorbachev added that the Crimean referendum has set an example for people in Russian-speaking in eastern Ukraine, who also should decide their fate. Gorbachev, who resigned as the Soviet president on Christmas Day 1991, has voiced regret that he was unable to stem the Soviet Union's collapse. He has criticized Putin's authoritarian policy, but said on Tuesday that he supports his course in the Ukrainian crisis.

Washington: US President Barack Obama on Tuesday invited leaders from ally nations for a meeting in The Hague next week to discuss further action in response to Russia's annexation of Ukraine's province of Crimea. "Today President Obama invited his counterparts from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the EU to a meeting of G-7 Leaders next week on the margins of the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague," Caitlin Hayden, spokesperson of the National Security Council said.

"The meeting will focus on the situation in Ukraine and further steps that the G-7 may take to respond to developments and to support Ukraine," Hayden said. The United States and the other members of the G-7 have already suspended their preparations for the G-8 Summit in Sochi, Russia, she said. Her comments came as Russian President Vladimir Putin today signed a treaty making Crimea part of Russia.