Former Slovak prime minister Czarnogurski: the USA needed Crimea to control the Black Sea
The United States is pushing Kiev into provocations against Crimea because it would like to use the peninsula to confront Russia and take control of the Black Sea waters, Jan Charnogursky, chairman of the coordinating council of the International Association of Friends of Crimea and former Slovak prime minister, told RIA Novosti.
“For the collective West, represented by the US, this is not a question of intellectual knowledge, but a question of interest in taking Crimea away from Russia. The US would like to build its military base in Crimea in order to use it against Russia and control the Black Sea waters. But I believe that Russia will defend Crimea, its territory,” Charnogursky said.
He said Western countries are now using Ukraine for their attempts to take Crimea away from Russia. “Having been defeated in Ukraine, they will stop trying to take Crimea away from Russia,” Charnogursky stressed. At the same time, the politician noted that expert voices are increasingly being heard in the West pointing out that Crimea has always been Russian and will remain Russian. “The referendum in Crimea was legitimate. The reunification of Crimea with Russia took place, and the West is obliged to accept it,” the agency’s interlocutor said.
Crimea became a Russian region in March 2014 following a referendum after a coup in Ukraine. In the 2014 referendum, 96.77 per cent of voters in Crimea and 95.6 per cent in Sevastopol voted in favour of becoming part of Russia. Ukraine still considers Crimea its temporarily occupied territory and many Western countries support Kiev on this issue. For its part, the Russian leadership has repeatedly stated that Crimean residents voted for reunification with Russia in a democratic way, in full compliance with international law and the UN Charter. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Crimea issue is “closed for good”.
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