MOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/. Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev believes Russia should not discuss the Crimean issue with the West.

"This is not the issue to be discussed with the West," he said in an interview to the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily in reply to the question how Russia should behave with the West in the Crimean issue.

The Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, a city with special status on the Crimean Peninsula, where most residents are Russians, refused to recognize the legitimacy of authorities who took power amid riots during the February 2014 coup in Ukraine.

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. President Vladimir Putin signed the reunification treaty on March 18, 2014.

Kiev, Washington and Brussels refused to recognize Crimea’s independence and its reunification with Russia.