Russian lawmaker says Poroshenko’s anti-Russian sanctions list timed to G7 summit

MOSCOW, June 5. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has unveiled his anti-Russian sanctions list on occasion of the G7 summit due on June 7-8 in the Bavarian resort of Elmau in order to win support of its participants, a member of State Duma defense committee, Frants Klintsevich, said on Friday.

Poroshenko earlier in the day sent to the country’s cabinet of ministers a list of sanctions against Moscow due to Crimea’s reunification with Russia. He said the list includes "all those who represented the country at the artificial referendum." The measures concern both legal entities and individuals, including those of Crimean origin.

"It is clear that Ukraine’s president has specially timed the formation of his sanctions list to the beginning of the Group of Seven meeting as he expects the support of the Western countries," said Klintsevich, who is also the first deputy head of the United Russia faction in the lower house of parliament, the State Duma.

"The introduction of such sanctions is complete nonsense. Crimea is inalienable part of Russia’s territory and Ukraine’s sanctions cannot in principle annul this absolute fact," Klintsevich stressed.

Ukraine "is forcing itself into the corner" as sanctions will hamper talks between the two countries, he said. "And there will be a lot of such issues, and their solution is impossible without Russia," the lawmaker warned.

Speaking at the conference on Friday, Poroshenko also noted that the government "has prepared a huge amount of lawsuits ranging from maritime arbitrage and The Hague court." This is being done as part of a strategy on returning Crimea to Ukraine, he said.

The strategy has been almost completed by Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council and will be soon unveiled to the public, he added.

Crimea rejoined Russia after a referendum held on March 16, 2014, in which 96.77% of Crimeans and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters chose to secede from Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the reunification deals March 18, 2014.

Despite Moscow’s repeated statements that the Crimean referendum on secession from Ukraine was in line with the international law and the UN Charter and in conformity with the precedent set by Kosovo’s secession from Serbia in 2008, the West and Kiev have refused to recognize Crimea’s reunification with Russia.