WASHINGTON, February 17. /TASS/. The US supports Ukraine’s attacks on military facilities in Crimea, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said on Thursday.

"Those are legitimate targets. Ukraine is hitting them and we are supporting that," she said about Russia’s military facilities in Crimea.

"Ukraine is not going to be safe unless Crimea is at a minimum militarized," Nuland said at the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, adding that this is "part of ensuring that there is a sustainable deterrent [of Russia]."

Meanwhile, Under Secretary of State virtually rejected the attempts by Aaron David Miller, a former American diplomat and now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, who hosted the discussion, to note that Crimea is "the red line" for Moscow. "I am not going to prejudge where the Ukrainians choose to fight or how they choose to deal with Crimea over the short term, medium term or long term. We recognize Crimea as Ukraine," she said.

Asked whether Washington’s goals coincide with Kiev’s wish to recover territories, Nuland said: "I think in this next phase in terms of what the Ukrainians want to do on the battlefield and what we are enabling them to plan to do, yes." Kiev needs to return "significant chunks of territory <…> before you even get to the question of Crimea," and that's what it is "focused on now," she noted. "Our position remains that they are owed and do all of their territory within their international borders. We have never recognized Russia's hold on Crimea," Under Secretary of State added.

Following a coup in Ukraine in February 2014, the governments of Crimea and Sevastopol held a referendum to join Russia, in which 96.7% of Crimeans and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters chose to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the reunification treaties on March 18, 2014. The documents were ratified by Russia’s Federal Assembly, or bicameral parliament, on March 21. Despite the overwhelming results of the referendum, Kiev and Washington still refuses to recognize Crimea as part of Russia.