Western nations - especially the EU - must act to stop Russia annexing Crimea, which would deal a serious blow to Europe's security, a top adviser to Ukrainian presidential hopeful Vitali Klitschko says.
"The West should act now without any procrastination," said Oleh Shamshur, a former deputy foreign minister and ex-ambassador to the US.
"If Crimea is annexed by Russia, the post Cold War-system architecture for the European security is gone in flames," he told the German Marshall Fund think tank in Washington on Tuesday.
He was speaking on the eve of a visit by Ukraine's interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who will hold meetings at the White House on Wednesday in a strong show of support for the new leaders in Kiev amid a US-Russia showdown over the fate of their country.
"The forces of Putin have to be stopped. It is still possible, but time is running out. I would like to save it," said Shamshur, the foreign policy adviser to former world boxing champion Klitschko.
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Klitschko was a leading figure in the protests that forced out Ukraine's pro-Russian former president, Viktor Yanukovych, and has announced he will run for the Ukrainian presidency in elections scheduled for May 25.
Shamshur accused the US and Europe of being too slow to act over the mounting crisis in Ukraine, in which Russia has deployed thousands of troops into Crimea, which is preparing to vote on Sunday on whether to break away from Kiev.
"Lack of action... would be a terrible signal all over the world," he said.
"No country in Europe, especially those countries issued from the former Soviet Union, can really feel safe."
He urged the US and its allies to table a UN Security Council motion against Moscow, saying even if Russia used its veto to shoot it down, it would still send a powerful message.
Shamshur also said the EU needed to "be much more concerned about the fallout of the crisis".
It must "finally decide on acting, not simply saying that, 'EU is concerned and it is ready to act.' Act now."
