法称对俄制裁可能本周实施

Ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych blamed his opponents Tuesday for Crimea's moves to break away from Ukraine and said he remains the country's president and commander-in-chief.

Mr. Yanukovych spoke from Rostov-on-Don, Russia in his second public appearance since he fled Kyiv last month following months of anti-government protests.

Denouncing Ukraine's interim authorities as "extremists," the ousted leader called the new government's planned May 25 elections "illegitimate" and "illegal."

He also had strong words for the United States and its offer of $1 billion in loan guarantees to the interim government, saying the U.S. government does not have the right to "give money to bandits."

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told France Inter radio Tuesday the West could impose sanctions against Russia as early as this week if Moscow does not respond positively to proposals to calm the crisis in Crimea.

Russia and the West are locked in a tense standoff over pro-Russian forces' seizure of the Ukrainian peninsula. The crisis in Crimea began late last month after Mr. Yanukovych's ouster.