DHAKA: Russia’s lower house of parliament will pass legislation allowing Ukraine’s southern Crimea region to join Russia ‘in the very near future’.

News agency Interfax cited its deputy speaker as saying, reports The Jerusalem Post.

‘Results of the referendum in Crimea clearly showed that residents of Crimea see their future only as part of Russia,’ Sergei Neverov was quoted as saying.

BDST: 1739 HRS, MAR 17, 2014