BRUSSELS, December 23. /TASS/. The European Union has rebuked the launch of railroad traffic across the Kerch of Strait via the Crimean Bridge as a violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty, the EU Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said in a statement issued in Brussels on Monday.
"The Russian Federation has finalised the construction of the railway section of the Kerch Bridge and is opening railway traffic to the Crimean Peninsula without Ukraine's consent. This constitutes another violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity by Russia," the spokesperson stressed.
He also underlined, "The bridge limits the passage of vessels through the Kerch Strait to Ukrainian ports in the Azov Sea", adding that the bridge serves as a step in "Crimeaґs isolation from Ukraine."
"The European Union expects Russia to ensure unhindered and free passage through the Kerch strait, in accordance with international law," the EU added, reiterating that the international community does not recognize Crimea as part of Russia.
Kiev has also condemned the railway traffic launch, slamming it as "an egregious breach of international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea" and "brazen violation of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine".
Earlier on Monday, the Russian leader launched railroad traffic on the bridge across the Kerch Strait by taking a rail bus ride from Kerch to Taman in the company of construction workers.
After the coup d’etat in Ukraine in February 2014, Crimea and Sevastopol held a referendum, in which 96.7% of Crimeans and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters chose to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. Eighty percent of the voting population participated in the referendum. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the reunification deal on March 18, 2014, which the Federation Council (upper house of the Russian parliament) ratified on March 21, 2014. Despite the convincing results of the referendum, Kiev refused to recognize Crimea as a part of Russia.