MOSCOW, February 20. /ITAR-TASS/. Crimea, Ukraine’s southernmost region in the Black Sea area that has the status of an autonomous republic within Ukraine, will stand up for the government, speaker of the Crimean parliament said at a meeting with Russian lawmakers of the United Russia faction at the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, on Thursday.
“Today, the process is out of control, and armed militants are dictating their terms,” Vladimir Konstantinov said. “Their target is clear, and it is to overthrow the government without any compromise solutions.”
Konstantinov made it clear that Kiev was amid an unfolding coup d’etat. “Unfortunately, our [the Crimean] parliament’s appeal to introduce a state of emergency has been left without any answer. But had it been done, the situation would have been different now.”
Some media outlets distorted his words in the issue of possible separation of Crimea from Ukraine, the Crimean parliament speaker said.
“That is not on the agenda now,” he said. “We are doing everything possible to keep the Ukrainian state integral, and we are consistent supporters of the central authorities. I am confident that it will be done with a most favorable outcome," Konstantinov concluded.