WASHINGTON, February 11. /TASS/. The US authorities have no objections to Ukrainian strikes against targets on the territory of Ukraine, including Crimea, which Washington considers a part of Ukraine, US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Dr. Celeste Wallander said, speaking at an event at the Washington-based Center for a New American Security.

"The United States supports Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty over its internationally recognized borders, and that includes Crimea," she said, when asked whether Washington supported Ukraine's ‘return of Crimea’ or the Ukrainian strikes on Russian targets on the peninsula with weapons supplied to Kiev by the West, "Ukraine has the right to defend every inch of its territory <...> as you know, we [the US] don't have objections and do not seek to limit Ukrainian military operations to achieve their objectives."

Eight years ago, against the backdrop of a coup in Ukraine the authorities of Crimea and Sevastopol held a referendum on reunification with Russia on March 16, 2014. Over 80% of those eligible to vote took part in it, 96.7% and 95.6% of the respective residents voted for reunification with Russia. On March 18, 2014, the Russian President signed an agreement on the admission of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol to the Russian Federation, and on March 21, the document was ratified by the Federal Assembly. Despite the convincing results of the referendum, Kiev refused to recognize Crimea as part of Russia.