YALTA, April 21. /TASS/. The Republic of Crimea continues to develop and make achievements despite all the sanctions imposed on Russia, Yukio Hatoyama, who served as the Japanese Prime Minister in 2009-2010, said in his address to participants in the 2017 Yalta International Economic Forum (YIEF).
"Crimea continues to make achievements although the United States and other Western countries carry on with their stubborn policy of unreasonable economic sanctions," he said. "The makers of this policy ignore historical facts and even distort reality, let alone violating generally accepted democratic principles."
"You have already made excellent progress, Crimea’s seaports have been attracting a lot of attention," the former Japanese prime minister added. "I hope that all obstacles preventing the development of the peninsula will be removed as soon as possible," he added.
Hatoyama confirmed his intention to visit Crimea in the near future. His previous visit took place in 2015.
The Third Yalta International Economic Forum (YIEF) is taking place in the Crimean city of Yalta on April 20-22, around 1,500 people from 46 countries are participating.
In 2016, 12 investment agreements for more than 70 billion rubles ($1.2 bln) were signed at the YIEF. Besides, a mechanism to protect foreign investors willing to work in Crimea from Western sanctions was developed during the second forum.
TASS is the forum’s strategic information partner.