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The US advocates demilitarizing Crimea and justifies the Ukrainian attacks

The US believes that the Crimean peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, should be “at the very least” demilitarized and believes that the Ukrainian attacks on the Russian-controlled territory are legitimate. The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zajarova, has condemned these statements as further evidence of Washington’s involvement in the conflict.

“No matter what the Ukrainians decide about Crimea, in terms of where they choose to fight, etc., Ukraine is not going to be safe until Crimea, at the very least, is demilitarized,” said US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland. USA, in a speech at a think tank on geopolitics in Washington. Asked about the risks of an escalation in the war, Nuland stated that Russia hosts key military facilities for the war on the peninsula, referring, among other things, to the port of Sevastopol, headquarters of the Russian Black Sea fleet, which has repeatedly attacked Ukraine. “Those are legitimate targets, Ukraine is attacking them and we support it,” Nuland said.

Zakharova has responded to these statements, denouncing them as new evidence of US participation in the war, along with the shipment of arms, intelligence support, planning of operations or training of the Ukrainian military. “Now the American warmongers go even further: they incite the kyiv regime to further escalation, bringing the war to our territory. So, with direct attacks. This is what we have been warning about and why we launched the special military operation. Now, US officials speak openly about it,” Zakharova complained.

Crimea was added to the Russian Empire in the 18th century at the time of Empress Catherine the Great. In 1921 it became part of Soviet Russia until 1954, when Josef Stalin’s successor, Nikita Khrushchev, a Ukrainian, returned it to Ukraine, itself one of the republics that made up the Soviet Union. In 1994, through the Budapest Memorandum, Russia recognized Ukraine’s sovereignty over its then-limits, which included the Crimean peninsula, pledging not to use force against the new republic. In 2014, it violated that memorandum and annexed the peninsula.

In the image, from Shamil Jumatov For Reuters, the Russian Foreign Spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, together with the Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, in an appearance in Moscow this week.