Vitaly Churkin
Permanent representative of Russia to the UN Vitaly Churkin, commenting on the statement of his American colleague, Nikki Haley about the abolition of anti-Russian sanctions, he quoted the American Constitution. On Friday, 3 February, reports RIA Novosti.
“It is impossible not to recall that the Constitution of the United States has made such remarkable historic words: “We the people”. The people of Crimea quite clearly expressed their will in the referendum,” — said the Russian diplomat.
2 February, speaking at a meeting of the UN security Council for the first time in the status of a permanent representative of the United States at the world organization, Haley said that restrictive measures against Russia could be lifted only if the return Crimea to Ukraine.
On 3 February the first meeting Churkin and Haley, about it journalists were reported by Russia’s permanent representative to the UN. He added that he intends to speak with his American counterpart “everything about life”.
In 2014, a number of countries, including the US and the EU imposed sanctions against Russia, linking this with the annexation of Crimea, and then — with the conflict in the South-East of Ukraine. The abolition of restrictive measures linked to the implementation of the Minsk agreements on the settlement of the conflict in the Donbass. Agreement, in particular, called for a cease-fire, withdrawal of heavy weapons from the contact line of the parties and the implementation in Ukraine of the constitutional reform.
Crimea joined Russia after the March 2014 referendum in which the vast majority of participants supported joining the Peninsula to Russia. Moscow stressed that the procedure conforms to the norms of international law, but Kiev refuses to recognize the election results. The Russian government has repeatedly called on the question of ownership of the Peninsula closed.