Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom Natalia Galibarenko has referred a letter of protest to Paul Nuttall, the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), over a recent visit by that party’s members to Crimea, the press service of the embassy said on Tuesday.
“Despite numerous warnings voiced by the Ukrainian side, these UKIP members deliberately violated Ukraine’s legislation and international law and ignored the United Kingdom’s official position of defending Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the press service said. “The Ukrainian embassy will consider the actions of these people as manifestation of deliberate support to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.”
The press service stressed that foreign citizens should have a special permission issued by Ukraine’s Migration Service in order to visit Crimea. They can enter the peninsula only via checkpoints controlled by the Ukrainian authorities.
“The Ukrainian authorities will duly react to any violations of the established procedure and bring those responsible to responsibility, including by means of imposing bans on entering Ukraine,” the embassy said.
A delegation of foreign politicians, political observers, members of the European Parliament and national parliaments of a number of European countries, including UKIP members Nigel Sussman and Richard Wood, paid a visit to the Republic of Crimea from March 19 through 21, 2017. The visit was organized by the A Just Russia party.