Moscow, March 7 (IANS): Russia will respect any choice made by the Crimean people in the upcoming referendum on the autonomous republic's future status in the Ukraine, a top legislator said Friday.

"We will treat this historic choice of the Crimean population with respect. We will support the free and democratic choice of the population of Crimea and Sevastopol," Xinhua quoted Sergei Naryshkin, speaker of the Russian State Duma, or lower house of the parliament, as saying in talks with a visiting Crimean delegation.

The Crimean parliament Thursday voted in favour of joining Russia and the result is expected to come up for referendum among Crimeans March 16.

Sevastopol, a port city located at the Crimean peninsula's southern tip, shelters the Russian Black Sea fleet.

Naryshkin said Moscow was well aware of recent acts by the Crimean authorities to secure citizen rights, freedom and protect human life.

He added that the State Duma had repeatedly called its Ukrainian counterparts to return to constitutional and legal frames, and stop violence and lawlessness against citizens and political rivals.

"We are afraid of the new (Ukrainian) entity, it is not legitimate," Ukraine's Interfax news agency quoted Crimean parliament speaker Vladimir Konstantinov as saying.

Earlier this week, a State Duma delegation visited Crimea. Following the trip, it urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to adopt all possible measures to stabilise the situation in the republic, where more than half the population are ethnic Russian.

So far, Russia is the only country to have supported the referendum. US President Barack Obama said Thursday the referendum would violate international law. Moscow later accused the US of applying double standards to Russia's assertions about the developments in Ukraine.