The chairman of the Crimean legislature announced that 80 percent of the local population favoured accession to Russia.

      Vladimir Konstantinov made the statement a week before the referendum that is expected to decide the future of the peninsula in Ukraine with a large ethnic Russian majority.

      According to Konstantinov, the republic can sustain itself with any support from Kiev.

      He accused the current regime of blocking the accounts of the local treasury which has left the autonomous republic financially stranded.

      Konstantinov said they are working on developing alternative energy sources and expect support from Russia.

      Earlier today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that his counterpart, US Secretary of State John Kerry, had postponed his visit to Russia where he was supposed to continue consultations on the possible solution to the Ukraine crisis.

      Secretary of State John Kerry issued a diplomatic ultimatum to his Russia counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, according to a senior U.S. administration official.

      "He made clear that continued military escalation and provocation in Crimea or elsewhere in Ukraine, along with steps to annex Crimea to Russia would close any available space for diplomacy, and he urged utmost restraint," the official was quoted by CNN as saying.

      Kerry said the United States is ready to work with allies to facilitate a Ukraine-Russia dialogue, the official said.

      Russia-IC also reported that the U.S. is prepared to back up NATO militarily if the unrest in Ukraine escalates,

      "We're trying to tell [Russia] not to escalate this thing further into Eastern Ukraine, and allow the conditions to be set for some kind of resolution in the Crimea," Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said in an interview with PBS Newshour's Judy Woodruff.

      When asked if there is a chance of U.S. military intervention in the Ukraine crisis, Dempsey replied, "That's a question that I think deserves to be assessed and reassessed and refreshed as this thing evolves."