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By John-Thorn Dahlburg The Associated Press SEVASTOPOL, CrimEA » Sur- rendering to Russia's inex- orable seizure of Crimea, Ukraine announced plans Wednesday for mass troop withdrawals from the stra - tegic peninsula as Moscow- loyal forces seized control of Kiev's naval headquarters here and detained its com - mander. Attempting to face down the unblinking incursion, Ukraine said it would hold joint military exercises with the United States and Brit - ain. Hours after masked Rus- sian-speaking troops forced their way onto Ukraine's main naval base here, forlorn Ukrainian soldiers streamed out carrying clothing and other belongings in bags. A group of local militia and Cossacks, later joined by offi - cers from Russia's Black Sea Fleet, looked on. Just how many retreating troops Ukraine will have to absorb in what amounts to a military surrender of Crimea was unclear. Many servicemen have already switched sides to Russia, but authorities said they were prepared to relocate as many as 25,000 soldiers and their families to the Ukrai - nian mainland. Humbled but def iant, Ukraine lashed out symbol- ically at Russia by declar- ing its intent to leave the Moscow-dominated Com- monwealth of Independent States, a loose alliance of 11 former Soviet nations. The last nation to leave the group was Georgia, which lost a brief war with neigh - boring Russia in 2008 and ended up losing two sepa- ratist territories. Biden: We're with you Vice President Joe Biden, in Lithuania trying to reas- sure nations bordering Rus- sia alarmed by the sight of an expansion-minded neighbor, said the U.S. would stand by them. "We're in this with you, to - gether," Biden said. Ukraine has been pow- erless to prevent Russian troops from taking control of Crimea, which President Vladimir Putin formally annexed Tuesday with the stroke of a pen. Crimea's ab - sorption came after a hast- ily organized referendum in which the population over- whelmingly, albeit under conditions akin to martial law, voted in favor of seced- ing from Ukraine and join- ing Russia. Russia's Constitutional Court chairman, Valery Zorkin, said Wednesday the treaty signed by Putin has been ruled valid, meaning it now only requires ratifi - cation by the Russian par- liament. On Wednesday morning, militiamen under apparent Russian command barged their way into Ukraine's na - val headquarters in Sevas- topol, detaining the head of Ukraine's navy and seizing the facility. The incursion, which Ukraine's Defense Ministry described as being led by a self-described local defense force, Cossacks and "aggressive women," pro - ceeded with no resistance. Upon gaining entrance to the base, the storming party raised a Russian flag on the headquarters square. The unarmed militiamen waited for an hour on the square and, following the arrival of the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, they took over the building. Forces take control By afternoon, they were in full control of the naval head- quarters, a set of three-story white concrete buildings with blue trim. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said Rear Adm. Sergei Haiduk was detained and a news agency close to the Russian-backed local authorities reported that he had been summoned for questioning by prosecutors. Later in the day, Russian De - fense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered the Crimean author- ities to release Haiduk. With thousands of Ukrai- nian soldiers and sailors trapped on military bases, su r rounded by heav i ly armed Russian forces and pro-Russia militia, the Kiev government said it was drawing up plans to evacu - ate its outnumbered troops from Crimea back to the mainland and would seek U.N. support to turn the peninsula into a demilita - rized zone. "We are working out a plan of action so that we can transfer not just service - men, but first of all, mem- bers of their family who are in Crimea, quickly and effec- tively to mainland Ukraine," said Andriy Parubiy, secre- tary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Coun- cil. Parubiy also announced Ukraine would hold military maneuvers with the United States and Britain, signato - ries, along with Russia, of the 1994 Budapest Memo- randum. He provided no de- tails. The document was de- s i g n e d t o g u a r a n t e e Ukraine's territorial integ- rity when it surrendered its share of Soviet nuclear arse- nals to Russia after the So- viet Union broke up in 1991. Ukraine has accused Russia of breaching the agreement by taking over the Crimean Peninsula. In Washington, the Pen- tagon said it would partici- pate as planned in a multina- tional military exercise this summer in Ukraine. Dubbed "Rapid Trident," the ground maneuvers have been held annually for a number of years with forces from Brit - ain and other NATO coun- tries as well as Ukraine, which has a partner relation- ship with NATO but is not a member. The Pentagon gave no de- tails on the number of U.S. forces expected to partici- pate or when the exercises would be held. Last year, the two-week maneuvers in- volving 17 nations were held in July. Meanwhile, in a warning to Moscow, Biden declared that the United States will respond to any aggression against its NATO allies, in - cluding neighbors to Russia. Standing with two Bal- tic leaders in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, Biden said the U.S. was "absolutely committed" to defending its allies, adding that President Barack Obama plans to seek concrete commitments from NATO members to ensure the alliance can safeguard its collective security. "Russia cannot escape the fact that the world is chang - ing and rejecting outright their behavior," Biden said after meeting with Lithua- nian President Dalia Gry- bauskaite and Latvian Pres- ident Andris Berzins. Travel visas planned Beyond the grander polit- ical gestures of the day, Pa- rubiy said Ukraine's For- eign Ministry had been in- structed to introduce a visa regime for travel between the two nations. The move could badly affect Ukrai - nia n mig ra nt laborers, many of whom work in Rus- sia and send home money. It came against the backdrop of claims that Russian cit- izens were pouring across the Ukrainian border to fo- ment secessionist unrest in bordering eastern regions. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was headed to the region to try to seek a diplomatic way out of the crisis. He was to meet with Rus - sian leaders in Moscow on Thursday, followed by talks Friday with Ukraine's new government. Ban has repeatedly called for a solution guided by the principles of the U.N. Char - ter including sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity of Ukraine. A 34-member U.N. hu - man rights monitoring mis- sion was also scheduled to be in place by Friday. Ukraine bows to Ru ss ia n se iz ur e, plans for pullout The Associated Press mOSCOW » Russia may re- vise its stance in the Iranian nuclear talks amid tensions with the West over Ukraine, a senior diplomat warned Wednesday. Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, according to the Inter - fax news agency, that Rus- sia didn't want to use the Ira- nian nuclear talks to "raise the stakes," but may have to do so in response to the ac- tions by the United States and the European Union. The statement is the most serious threat of retaliation by Moscow after the U.S. and the EU announced sanc - tions against Russia over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region. Ryabkov, who is Russia's envoy to the Iranian talks, said that Russia consid - ers the "reunification" with Crimea as far more impor- tant than the developments surrounding the Iranian nu- clear program. Russia has cooperated with the United States and other Western nations in the Iranian talks, but Ryab - kov warned that its attitude may now change. "We wouldn't like to use these talks as an element of the game of raising the stakes taking into account the senti - ments in some European cap- itals, Brussels and Washing- ton," Ryabkov was quoted as saying by Interfax. "But if they force us into that, we will take retaliatory mea - sures here as well. The his- toric importance of what hap- pened in the last weeks and days regarding the restora- tion of historical justice and reunification of Crimea with Russia is incomparable to what we are dealing with in the Iranian issue." Ryabkov didn't elaborate on how Russia's position in the talks may change. Iran has agreed to curb its nuclear activities under the terms of a deal last Novem - ber with six world powers, including Russia. Tehran insists that its nu- clear program has peaceful goals and dismisses West- ern fears that it could be a cover for a bid to develop nuclear weapons. It has agreed to temporarily limit its atomic work in return for some sanctions relief. In the meantime, both sides are working on a fuller deal plac - ing long-term restrictions on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for an end to all economic sanctions. nuCLEAr TALkS Russia warns West it may change its stance on Iran Moscow prepared to take 'retaliatory measures' of own CrimEA Andrew Lubimov — the AssociAted press ukrainian servicemen stand, with a crimean self-defense forces member in front, outside the ukrainian navy headquarters in sevastopol, crimea on wednesday. | NEWS | redbLuFFdAiLYnews.com thursdAY, mArch 20, 2014 4 B