Poroshenko: Europe takes first step in recognizing Crimea as Russian
(Baonghean.vn) - Moscow has achieved its goal of returning to the Parliamentary Assembly of the European Union (PACE) and thus taken the first step towards forcing Europe to recognize Crimea as part of Russia. This is the statement posted by former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on his personal Facebook account.
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| Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Photo: Getty |
Mr. Poroshenko emphasized that Kiev always seeks to extend sanctions against Russia "although it is not easy", and affirmed that the diplomatic steps of the Ukrainian delegation in PACE are completely reasonable.
The former President of Ukraine stressed that the country will not allow sanctions against Russia to be lifted.
The Russian delegation to PACE was stripped of its voting rights in April 2014 due to events in Ukraine and around the Crimean Peninsula. Sanctions against Moscow were subsequently tightened.
In response, Russia stopped participating in PACE meetings and in mid-2017 announced that it had frozen part of its payments to the body’s budget. However, this week, PACE invited Russia to attend the session, and later adopted a resolution confirming the full authority of the Russian delegation.
