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Crimea's [Head Of Republic] But Mr Aksyonov denied that Russia had done anything wrong. Sergei Aksyonov said the annexation of the peninsula by Russia one year ago had been a "democratic act". "I can tell you that no-one took anything," he told the BBC's John Simpson. "That was the choice of the Crimeans. Nothing could happen without the support of the local population which is why this was not an act of aggression, but a real democratic act. "This is the main mistake and misunderstanding of Western leaders. People are misinformed by the media which is failing to give an...

<p>Russian President Vladimir Putin has apparently rejected a U.S. proposal to resolve the dispute over Ukraine that had been put forward by Secretary of State John Kerry over the past week, according to senior Russian and U.S. officials.</p> <p>Mr. Putin's decision led Mr. Kerry to put off a Russian invitation to meet Mr. Putin in Russia, as early as the beginning of this week in Sochi, to discuss the Ukraine crisis, according to these officials.</p>

Putin’s Man in Crimea Is Ukraine’s Worst Nightmare Simon Shuster / Simferopol @shustry 7:33 PM ET Sergei Aksyonov, the pro-Russian Prime Minister of Crimea who is driving the region toward secession from Ukraine, is at the center of an international crisis. But little is known about a man who rose from obscurity in the space of a month and who some claim is a former gangster nicknamed the 'Goblin' A month ago, when Ukraine’s old regime was just starting to crack under the pressure of a revolution, few people in the country had ever heard of Sergei Aksyonov. He was...