Russian lawmaker comments on Trump's position on Crimea

The chairman of the Russian upper house of parliament's defense committee, Viktor Ozerov, said that Crimea cannot be "subject of bargaining" between Russia and the United States, following the claim that US President Donald Trump is expecting Moscow to return Crimea to Kiev.

"The issue of Crimea return is absolutely clear — it is part of Russia and it cannot be subject of bargaining between Russia and the United States, no matter what is at stake," Sputnik cited Ozerov as saying.

The lawmaker added that the demand to return Crimea could be compared to Russia demanding from the US to return Alaska, "which is absolutely impossible."

Ozerov suggested that Spicer's statement could have been an attempt to defuse the tension around Trump and to signal to the US establishment that the president was not as lenient toward Russia as he might seem to be.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said earlier that US President Donald Trump expects Russia to de-escalate the situation in Donbass and return Crimea to Ukraine.