SECRETARY OF STATE: We stand in alliance with Ukraine
On the anniversary of Crimea’s annexation to Russia, the US Secretary of State said that Crimea was a prime example of Russia’s disregard for Ukraine’s sovereignty and integrity.
“The United States and Ukraine today celebrate the eighth anniversary of the 2014 invasion of Russia and the occupation of Crimea,” the Biden government official said on Twitter.
“Crimea is a prime example of Russia’s disregard for Ukraine’s international law, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said. I reiterate that Crimea belongs to Ukraine and we stand united with Ukraine.
A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, meanwhile, emphasized his country’s ownership of the Crimean peninsula. Nothing else can be considered.
The differences between Russia and Ukraine, which have extensive historical and religious ties, began in 2014 after changes in Ukraine, which Kiev calls a “revolution” and the Russians a “coup.”
The people of eastern Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula then began to oppose the central government in Kiev.
Due to Russia’s military presence in Crimea, the Kremlin secured a referendum on the Crimean peninsula, and the people of the region, most of whom were Moscow-leaning Russians, voted for independence from Ukraine and then joined Russia. With Putin’s consent, it became executive.
Since then, the United States and the West have imposed a variety of economic sanctions on Russia, as well as individuals and companies operating in Crimea, so that Russia may step back from Crimea.
Ukraine has called on the international community to reject Crimea as part of Russian territory, to call it an occupier, and to press Russia to retake the region from Ukraine.
The United States has imposed more than 100 packages of sanctions on Russia for allegedly interfering in Ukraine and other issues, and sanctions continue to be renewed following the outbreak of war in Ukraine following the Russian president’s recognition of the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk republics. , The scope of sanctions against Moscow is increasing every day.
Criticizing the West’s indifference to Moscow’s security concerns, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that his country recognizes the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk republics and signed cooperation and friendship agreements with the leaders of those republics at the Kremlin Palace.
In a speech on Russian national television on the morning of Thursday, February 24, Putin announced military action in Donbas and called on Ukrainian forces to lay down their weapons and go home.