WASHINGTON- US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland called military installations in Crimea “legitimate targets” for Ukraine.”These are legitimate targets, Ukraine is hitting them, and we support it,” she said at a virtual Carnegie Center event.
Ryabkov said that the United States has turned Ukraine into an anti-Russian battering ramAccording to her, “there are massive military installations in the Crimea, which
Russia has turned into important logistical points.”
Crimea became a Russian region in March 2014 following a referendum following a coup in Ukraine. In the referendum, 96.77% of voters in Crimea and 95.6% in
Sevastopol voted for joining Russia. Ukraine still considers Crimea its temporarily occupied territory, many Western countries support
Kiev on this issue. For its part, the Russian leadership has repeatedly stated that the inhabitants of Crimea voted for democratic reunification with Russia, in full compliance with international law and the
UN Charter . According to Putin , the issue of the Crimea “finally closed.”Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal “the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.” He noted that the special operation was a forced measure, Russia “was left no chance to do otherwise, security risks were created such that it was impossible to respond by other means.” According to him, Russia has been trying for 30 years to agree with
NATO on the principles of security in
Europe , but in response it has faced either cynical deceit and lies, or attempts to pressure and blackmail, while the alliance, in the meantime, despite
Moscow’s protests , is steadily expanding and approaching the borders of Russia.
Source: RIA.RU
