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Gorbachev says Crimea’s accession to Russia reasonable

MOSCOW, March 17, /ITAR-TASS/. Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev said Crimea’s accession to Russia would be well-founded and reasonable as it would reflect the position of people living in it.

“They did it (conducted the referendum) and that’s good. People want this, and therefore need to be met halfway,” he said on Monday, March 17.

In the referendum held on March 16, two questions were asked:

1. Do you support Crimea’s reunification with Russia as its constituent member?

2. Do you support the restoration of the Constitution of the Republic of Crimea of 1992 and the status of Crimea as a part of Ukraine?

The ballots in Sevastopol also included a question on its accession to Russia as a city with a special status.

Mikhail Malyshev, head of the Crimean parliament commission that organised the referendum, said 96.77 percent of people who came to the polling stations voted for Crimea’s accession to Russia.

In Sevastopol, 95.6 percent of people who voted in the referendum also supported accession to Russia.