Moscow-Sana
Vladimir Medinsky, assistant to the Russian President and head of the negotiating delegation with Ukraine, stressed that the Crimea and Donbass are not the focus of discussions in the negotiations with Ukraine.
Medinsky said in an interview with the Arab channel Arte that “regarding Crimea and Donbass, this issue does not exist for negotiation for Russia because Crimea is a sovereign part of Russia and is enshrined in the Russian constitution. It is fully consistent with the Charter of the United Nations.”
Medinsky considered that the non-recognition of Crimea by a number of Western countries is the biggest violation of international law and the principles of the United Nations.
The Russian presidential aide also explained that with regard to Donbass, Russia's will and position have also not changed because the people themselves want to determine their own destiny and are ready to defend it with weapons in their hands, which they did for more than 8 years by confronting the armed aggression by Ukraine against them.
It is noteworthy that Crimea has become a Russian region since the popular referendum of its population that took place in March 2014, in which the majority voted in favor of reunification with Russia.
Last February, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees on Russia's recognition of the independence of the Lugansk and Donetsk People's Republics within the Donbass region.