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Crimea and Sevastopol

Russia to decide itself how many troops to deploy in Crimea

"It is already Russia's territory, and we will decide ourselves where and how many troops to deploy," Chairman of the Federation Council’s Committee for Defense and Security stated

© ITAR-TASS/Alexei Pavlishak

MOSCOW, March 20. /ITAR-TASS/. After the reunification of Crimea and Sevastopol with the Russian Federation is legally formalized, Russia must not ask anybody how many troops to deploy in the territory, Chairman of the Federation Council’s Committee for Defense and Security, Viktor Ozerov, told foreign military attaches on Thursday.

He noted that the contingent of 25,000 servicemen earlier agreed upon with Ukraine for the Black Sea Fleet deployment in Crimea was not exceeded.

“Now, when Crimea and Sevastopol have expressed their wish to be within the Russian Federation, and the decision will be finally legally formalized tomorrow, including by the Federation Council, it is already Russia's territory, and we will decide ourselves where and how many troops to deploy,” Ozerov said.

After its suspension of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, Russia persistently proposes European partners to sit at a negotiating table and agree on everything. “Unfortunately, they try to bind Russia to the Istanbul agreements and the agreement on Transnistria. It is necessary to sit and agree for none to fear that Russia somewhere acts beyond the law bounds,” the committee head noted, adding: “We always are law-abiding citizens.”

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Crimea and Sevastopol

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