SIMFEROPOL (Sputnik) – Crimea is Russia’s sovereign territory, the West and Ukraine understand this perfectly well, and the sooner they recognize this fact, the better it will be for them, Russian Foreign Ministry envoy in Simferopol, Artem Berezovsky, told Sputnik.
Crimea became a Russian region in March 2014 following a referendum after a coup in Ukraine. In the referendum, 96.77% of voters in Crimea and 95.6% in Sevastopol voted to join Russia. Ukraine still considers Crimea to be its temporarily occupied territory, and many Western countries support Kiev on the issue. For its part, the Russian leadership has repeatedly stated that the residents of Crimea voted to reunite with Russia democratically, in full compliance with international law and the UN Charter. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Crimea issue is «closed.»
