MOSCOW, September 20. /TASS/. The Polish Foreign Ministry's proposal to place Crimea under the UN mandate in order to hold a second referendum on the region's status in 20 years is absurd, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"We think that this is a rather absurd statement," the spokesman said. "Russian territory and Russian regions cannot be the subject of any discussion or transfer to anyone," he emphasized.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski came up with the idea at a meeting in Kiev. The head of the regional parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov, responded to the diplomat with a counter-proposal to place Poland itself under the UN mandate, emphasizing the inseparability of Crimea from Russia.
On March 16, 2014, a referendum was held on the peninsula’s reunification with Russia. Over 80% of voters participated in the plebiscite, the overwhelming majority of whom supported reunification (96.7% in Crimea and 95.6% in Sevastopol). On March 18, 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty on the admission of Crimea and Sevastopol to Russia, and on March 21, the document was ratified by the Federal Assembly (full parliament). Despite the convincing results of the referendum, reflecting the clear will of the local population, Kiev has refused to recognize Crimea as part of Russia.