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Ukraine UN ambassador says new US administration won’t accept Crimea as part of Russia

Ukraine’s UN ambassador Vladimir Yelchenko said his US counterpart Nikki Haley "confirmed very basic things about the U.S. policy towards Ukraine"

© AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews

UNITED NATIONS, February 2. /TASS/. Ukraine’s UN ambassador Vladimir Yelchenko on Wednesday quoted his US counterpart as confirming that the new US administration won’t recognize Crimea’s accession to Russia.

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"I had a meeting with Nikki Haley a couple of days ago, my impression from the meeting is very good," Ukraine's permanent representative to the UN said on Wednesday.

"She simply confirmed very basic things about the U.S. policy towards Ukraine, that they fully support our territorial integrity and independence…," he told reporters.

"Basic thing which we also touched upon in our conversation with the U.S. Ambassador is that there are different things: one thing is the bilateral relations between the U.S. and Russia and another thing - U.S. - Ukraine. The first is not happening on the price of Ukraine," the ambassador went on.

He said he has been "through at least four or five changes of the U.S. administration from one party to another" and Washington’s stance on an independent Ukraine remained unchanged. "Sometimes there was a feeling that republican administrations were even more positive with regard to Ukraine that democrats," Yelchenko said commenting on possible changes in Washington’s policy.

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Printing house in Kiev releases map of Ukraine leaving out Crimea

Back as a presidential hopeful, Donald Trump said in an interview with the ABC that the people of Crimea had made a choice in favor of Russia and the U.S. should take account of it. "But you know, the people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were. And you have to look at that, also," said Donald Trump who was inaugurated as US President on January 20.

Over the recent months, Donald Trump has expressed readiness to review relations with Russia, making them better.

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 Kiev 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 Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the reunification deals March 18, 2014.

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