Russia says Ukraine (peacefully) annexed Crimea in 1991

Sergey Naryshkin, the chairman of the Russian Duma, has announced that Ukraine peacefully annexed Crimea in 1991. He shared this knowledge with members of a French parliamentary delegation in Moscow this week, before their visit to Crimea.

Naryshkin noted that, between 1991 and 2014, most of Crimea’s residents felt that they lived in a foreign land and “dreamt of ending up in their historical homeland, in Russia.”

“I am sure that people there will tell you honestly what they felt and how they lived during those 23 years, between 1991 and 2014, when Crimea, due to a number of circumstances, was annexed peacefully—but nonetheless annexed—by Ukraine. I emphasize, peacefully.”

A group of ten French parliament members is due to travel from Moscow to Crimea on July 23. Eight of them are representatives of former French president Nikolas Sarkozy’s center-right Republican party. The French Foreign Minister has denounced the visit, and representatives of the French government have stated that the trip is a violation of international law.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has announced that the visit has not been approved by Ukraine, and that Ukraine will impose sanctions on the French politicians who visit Crimea, including a travel ban to Ukraine. The Foreign Ministry called the visit “an irresponsible act, a demonstration of disrespect towards the state sovereignty of Ukraine, and a conscious violation of Ukrainian law.”

Russia absorbed Crimea in March 2014 after a controversial secessionist referendum. Neither France nor Ukraine has recognized the results of this referendum.