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Kremlin: Issue on Crimea status not matter of discussion for Moscow

Kremlin spokesman has commented on the proposal of Nadezhda Savchenko that Kiev needs to recognize Crimea as part of Russia to regain control of the Donbass region

Crimea, Sevastopol Vladimir Smirnov/TASS

Crimea, Sevastopol

© Vladimir Smirnov/TASS

MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/. Moscow won’t discuss the issue of status of any Russian regions, including Crimea, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

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Peskov commented on the proposal of Ukrainian MP Nadezhda Savchenko that Kiev needs to recognize Crimea’s reunification with Russia to regain control of the Donbass region.

"This issue is absolutely not a matter of discussion and is incontestable for Russia. We do not discuss the status and future of Russian regions. This is not a matter of discussion with anyone else," Peskov said.

Peskov also said that in order to solve the Ukrainian conflict, Kiev should continue to support the Donbass regions.

He said that "it is important that Ukraine does not give up on the republics." "Because a complete blockade of these regions in the field of social obligations, pension payments and infrastructure development proves that Kiev is ready to abandon Donbass, which is a very serious problem," the Kremlin spokesman stated.

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Peskov went on to explain that Kiev "has been neither paying out pensions nor maintaining healthcare system nor providing any social services (in this region)." "This is a problem because this does not help bring the republics and Kiev back together, it does quite the contrary," the Russian presidential spokesman stressed.

When asked if the Kremlin placed any importance on the possibility that the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics could keep their names after the conflict was solved, Peskov said that the matter concerned the self-proclaimed republics of Donbass, as "Russia did not name them."

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Ukraine crisis Crimea and Sevastopol

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