Russia’s Federation Council has unanimously approved President Vladimir Putin’s request to use Russian military forces in Ukraine on Saturday

Russia’s Federation Council has unanimously approved President Vladimir Putin’s request to use Russian military forces in Ukraine on Saturday.

The upper house of the Russian parliament has voted in favor of sending troops to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, which would ensure peace and order in the region “until the socio-political situation in the country is stabilized.”

The envoy Putin sent to the debate made clear afterwards that it was up to the president to decide when to use the right granted to him.

"The approval that the president was given in the literal sense does not mean that this right will be realized quickly," said Grigory Karasin, a deputy foreign minister.

He also expressed hope that Western states who had acted before as intermediaries in the Ukraine crisis would be able to "effect action on the authorities in Kiev to return the situation to a normal and constitutional framework."

The developments follow an appeal by the Prime Minister of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, who requested that Russia to help cope with the crisis and ensure “peace and calm” in the region.

Crimeans began protesting after the new self-proclaimed government in Kiev introduced a law abolishing the use of other languages in official circumstances in Ukraine. More than half the Crimean population are Russian and use only this language in their everyday life. The residents have announced they are going to hold a referendum on March 30 to determine the fate of the Ukrainian autonomous region.

Putin says the move is needed to protect ethnic Russians and the personnel of a Russian military base in Ukraine's strategic region of Crimea. But the request came a day after Obama warned Moscow that "there will be costs" if it intervenes militarily in Ukraine.

"I'm submitting a request for using the armed forces of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine pending the normalization of the socio-political situation in that country," Putin said before the vote.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague condemned the Russian parliament's decision and said he had summoned the Russian ambassador to register his concerns. "This action is a potentially grave threat to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine. We condemn any act of aggression against Ukraine," Hague said in a statement issued by the Foreign Office.