MOSCOW. March 19 (Interfax) - Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Yarema and acting Defense Minister Ihor Tenyukh will be barred from entering Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, the Crimean prime minister, told Interfax.
"They are unwelcome in Crimea. Nobody will let them enter Crimea, and they'll be sent back," Aksyonov said.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk had instructed Yarema and Tenyukh to immediately fly to Crimea earlier on Wednesday.
Ostap Semerak, a member of the Ukrainian Cabinet of ministers, told journalists earlier on Wednesday that Yarema and Tenyukh had been sent to Crimea "to settle the situation and prevent the conflict from escalating and growing into a military conflict." Semerak said Yarema and Tenyukh had already left for Crimea.