(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) The Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree recognising Crimea "as a sovereign and independent state", presidential sources said on Monday, reported the BBC. "This decree enters into force on the day on which it is signed," they add. The move follows Sunday's referendum in Crimea in which officials said 97% of voters backed breaking away from Ukraine and joining Russia. The EU and US earlier imposed sanctions on a number of officials from Russia and Ukraine over the vote. The Russian presidential decree was issued "considering the expression of the will of the people of Crimea at the general Crimean referendum, which was held on 16 March 2014," the text of the decree said. The referendum was called by the pro-Russian authorities in Crimea after the ousting of Ukraine's pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych, who had sparked months of street protests by rejecting a planned EU trade deal in favour of closer ties with Moscow. The EU, US and authorities in Kiev have rejected the referendum as illegal
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