Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia had not annexed Crimea and that Kiev’s actions had been the root cause behind Crimea’s reunification with Russia, TASS reports.
Russia did not annex that territory, Putin said in a reply to the Ukrainian ambassador at the CIS summit in Bishkek.
"Russia did not annex anything. Whatever happened with Crimea is the result of unlawful actions of certain political forces in Ukraine who had brought the situation to a state coup," the Russian head of state said.
Putin recalled that Crimea had reunified with Russia at the will of the people who inhabited that territory. "These actions are fully compliant with the international law and the United Nations Charter and relevant decisions of the United Nations courts on similar issues, which the United Nations used to have in its international practice," the president stressed.
