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Crimea and Sevastopol

Washington’s Crimea strategy doomed to failure, Russian legislator assures

A lawmaker comments on the Trump administration’s Crimea Declaration signed by US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo

© AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

MOSCOW, July 26. /TASS/. The United States’ strategy of not recognizing Crimea as part of Russia is doomed to failure, Chairman of Russia’s Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev said on Thursday commenting on the Trump administration’s Crimea Declaration signed by US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo.

Read also

Putin says he expressed disagreement with Trump’s position on Crimea in Helsinki

The newly-published document has once again formalized Washington’s policy of non-recognition of the Black Sea peninsula’s reunification with Russia.

"Referring to their own experience of not recognizing the absorption of the Baltic republics into the USSR in 1940, [the Americans] ‘took a solemn oath’ to behave in the same way, this time concerning Crimea as part of Russia. American strategists believe (or want to believe) that these two stories are identical and that the strategy, which worked once, is suitable for all occasions. That’s a gross misconception," he wrote on his Facebook page.

Kosachev noted that the Soviet authorities in the Baltic Region "relied on the support of a fairly small clique of local politicians" and military force rather than on a broad spectrum of the population. "History has indeed put everything in its proper place," he stated.

"Crimea is a totally different story. There was no military force, nor was there any coercion. The overwhelming majority of the population supported the return to Russia, strongly and unequivocally, while its opponents were in the minority. These reports are not fake news akin to Soviet propaganda. This is the absolute truth," the Russian senator stressed.

According to Kosachev, Washington now "opposes the people’s will."

"See the difference. That’s doomed to failure, historically and politically," he concluded.

Reunification with Russia

The Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, a city with a special status on the Crimean Peninsula, where most residents are ethnic Russians, refused to recognize the legitimacy of authorities who took 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 the Russian Federation. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the reunification deals on March 18, 2014. Despite the highly convincing results of the referendum, Ukraine, the US and the European Union refused to recognize Crimea’s reunification with Russia.

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Crimea and Sevastopol

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