The U.S. Department of State reiterates that Crimea was and remains a part of Ukraine, therefore further escalation of violence on the peninsula will be regarded as an attempt to derail the peace process of the conflict resolution in the Donbas. It was announced by Jen Psaki, a Spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of State, yesterday in Washington.
"Any Russian military exercises or weapons deployments in Crimea, which is part of Ukraine, would further undermine securing a peaceful, diplomatic resolution to a crisis that Russia started with its forcible seizure and ongoing occupation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula," said Psaki, responding to a question regarding the deployment of Russian military forces and equipment in Crimea.
Psaki noted that the White House had seen these reports and was closely monitoring the situation on the ground, although "doesn't have confirmation independently of this."
She added that the U.S. position is clear: "We reiterate that Crimea remains a sovereign Ukrainian territory. We don't recognize, as all of you know, Russia's purported annexation."
It should be recalled that on the anniversary of the Crimean annexation the U.S. Department of State urged Putin to stop the atrocities and get out of Ukraine.
