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Crimea and Sevastopol

Moscow doesn’t accept Kiev’s protest over Putin’s trip to Crimea

Earlier, Ukraine’s foreign ministry sent a note to Russia "over another visit that was not agreed with Ukraine"

YALTA, November 23. /TASS/. Moscow does not accept Kiev’s protests over President Vladimir Putin’s trip to Crimea, Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

"We don’t accept this protest," he told TASS commenting on the Ukrainian foreign ministry’s statement.

Earlier in the day, Ukraine’s foreign ministry sent a note to Russia "over another visit that was not agreed with Ukraine." "This visit, like any other so-called trips by Russian officials to the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol (Ukraine) non-agreed with the Ukrainian side, is a blatant violation of Ukraine’s state sovereignty and territorial integrity," the ministry said in the note, stressing that Kiev believes that Crimea and Sevastopol are "Ukraine’s integral part in its international recognized borders."

The Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, a city with a special status on the Crimean Peninsula, where most residents are Russians, refused to recognize the legitimacy of authorities brought to power amid riots during a coup in Ukraine in February 2014.

Crimea and Sevastopol adopted declarations of independence on March 11, 2014. They held a referendum on March 16, 2014, in which 96.77% of Crimeans and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters chose to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the reunification treaties on March 18, 2014. The documents were ratified by Russia’s Federal Assembly, or bicameral parliament, on March 21.

Despite the absolutely convincing results of the referendum, Ukraine, the United States and the European Union have been refusing to recognize Crimea as a part of Russia.

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Crimea and Sevastopol Ukraine Vladimir Putin

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