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Crimea and Sevastopol

Head of Crimea calls Ukraine’s illusions to return peninsula by force useless

"Crimea will be Russian forever. Whatever plans some people may be plotting, they will all remain unfeasible," Sergey Aksyonov believes

Sergey Aksyonov Alexey Druzhinin/Russian president's press service/TASS

Sergey Aksyonov

© Alexey Druzhinin/Russian president's press service/TASS

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Crimea not to return to Ukraine — republic leader

SIMFEROPOL, March 11 /TASS/. Sergey Aksyonov, the head of Crimea, has called Ukraine’s illusions to return Crimea by force a "monkey business."

"If anyone is still having illusions they can return Crimea by using military force, they should not waste their time — it’s absolutely useless. That will never happen. Russia will be able to defend its interests in any part of the world," Aksyonov told journalists on Friday.

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"Crimea will be Russian forever. Whatever plans some people may be plotting, they will all remain unfeasible," the head of Crimea added.

Aksyonov said that Crimean inhabitants perceived all the attempts by Ukrainian radicals to deploy armed battalions on the border with Crimea and impose a blockade on the peninsula with humor.

"We are watching all this with fun. How can they impose a sea blockade — on barrels or inflatable airbeds? Let them block us, and we will see what it’s going to be like," Aksyonov said.

Crimea reunited with Russia after a March referendum in 2014. Until recently, the United States and the European Union have been refusing to recognize Crimea as part of Russia. They have imposed sanctions, which they have extended several times since then, on Crimean companies and the republic’s leadership.

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Crimea and Sevastopol Sergey Aksyonov

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