MOSCOW, March 18 - Defying Ukrainian protests and Western sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty in Moscow on Tuesday making Crimea part of Russia again, but said he did not plan to seize any other regions of Ukraine.

Two weeks ago Putin said he did not plan to annex Crimea.

On the peninsula, a Ukrainian serviceman was killed when a base still held by Kiev came under attack in the main town of Simferopol, the first death in Crimea from a military clash since Russia seized control three weeks ago.

Kiev said the attackers had been wearing Russian military uniforms, and it responded by authorizing its soldiers in Crimea to use weapons to protect their lives, reversing previous orders that they should avoid using arms against attack.

In a fiercely patriotic address to a joint session of parliament in the Kremlin, punctuated by standing ovations, cheers and tears, Putin said Crimea's disputed referendum vote on Sunday, held under Russian military occupation, had shown the overwhelming will of the people to be reunited with Russia.

As the Russian national anthem played, Putin and Crimean leaders signed a treaty to make Ukraine's region part of the Russian Federation, declaring: "In the hearts and minds of people, Crimea has always been and remains an inseparable part of Russia." Parliament is expected to begin ratifying the treaty within days, Reuters reported.

Putin later told a flag-waving rally in Red Square beneath the Kremlin walls that Crimea had returned to "home port."

Russian forces took control of the Black Sea peninsula in late February following the toppling of Moscow-backed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych by protests provoked by his decision to spurn a trade deal with the European Union last November and seek closer ties with Russia. People in Crimea voted overwhelmingly in last weekend's referendum to join Russia.

Ukrainian and Russian troops have held back from violent confrontations, with Kiev anxious to avoid giving Moscow a reason for overrunning its bases in Crimea.

But Ukraine's pro-Western prime minister, Arseniy Yatseniuk, denounced Tuesday's death of the serviceman as a "war crime" and called for international talks to prevent an escalation of the conflict.

A Defense Ministry statement said the man had been shot while manning a tower, adding that the attackers in Russian uniforms were holding the base commander in a nearby building. A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman declined to comment.

Interfax Ukraine news agency, quoting Crimean police, reported that a member of the pro-Russian "self-defense forces" was also killed in the incident, but that could not immediately be confirmed.

In Kiev, the press service of acting President Oleksandr Turchynov announced new military orders. "In connection with the death of a Ukrainian serviceman ... Ukrainian troops in Crimea have been allowed to use weapons to defend and protect the lives of Ukrainian servicemen," the Defense Ministry order said.

Turchynov also accused Russia of annexing Crimea in actions reminiscent of Nazi Germany's takeover of Austria and Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland in the run-up to World War Two.

Putin's speech drew immediate hostile reaction in the West.
U.S. President Barack Obama's administration on Tuesday condemned Putin's annexation of Crimea and said it was preparing a new round of sanctions.

"More is coming," said White House spokesman Jay Carney, a day after the United States slapped sanctions on 11 Russian and Ukrainian officials, penalties that some critics said did not go far enough to get Moscow's attention. (rt/ez)