Crimea has long been a Russian territory - Gerhard Schroeder

The Crimea has long been a Russian territory, and the peninsula turned out to be part of Ukraine only because its membership in one of the republics did not play a significant role during Soviet times, told the former Federal Chancellor of Germany Gerhard Schroeder in an interview with “Bild”, News Front reports.

According to him, the referendum and the subsequent reunification of the Crimea with Russia were carried out according to all democratic and legal canons, therefore all the accusations of the West about the “annexation” sound ridiculous. “These actions were approved by the population, which means there is no point in talking about aggression,” the German politician noted.

He also considers it necessary to lift sanctions against Russia and provide conditions for peace in the Donbass. In this regard, he urged Kiev to put an end to the hostilities and move to the implementation of the Minsk agreements.