Crimea to rejoin Russia by end of week: Lavrov

The judicial process required for the acceptance of Crimea and the region’s port city of Sevastopol by Moscow is expected to be completed by the end of the week, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says.

“Currently, we are involved in practical implementation of the agreements on Crimea’s and Sevastopol’s accession to the Russian Federation. The legal process is due to be completed this week,” Lavrov said on Thursday.

The remarks came two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin, Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov, and Sevastopol mayor Aleksey Chaly signed a treaty on the accession of Crimea and Sevastopol city to the Russian territory as two new constituents.

Despite condemnation from the West and Ukraine, the lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, plans to ratify the treaty later on Thursday. Moreover, the upper house is expected to officially declare Crimea as part of the Russian Federation on Friday.

Meanwhile, Moscow is reportedly considering a wide range of responses to US sanctions against it.

“We are looking at a broad range of responsive measures. They can be identical measures regarding certain lists of American officials – not necessarily representatives of the administration … who have influenced American policies,” Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Wednesday.

On Monday, US President Barack Obama issued an executive order that imposes sanctions, including assets freezes and travel bans, on 11 Russian, Crimean, and Ukrainian individuals for “contributing to the situation in Ukraine.”

This came on the same day that Crimea declared independence from Ukraine and formally applied to become part of Russia, following a referendum, in which 96.8 percent of Crimeans voted for union with Russia, with a turnout of 83.1 percent.

Ukraine has been gripped by a political crisis since November 2013, after then Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych refrained from signing an Association Agreement with the European Union in favor of closer ties with Moscow.