The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has called on the Russian Federation not to engage in political bullying and reminded that Russia does not have any status in the Crimea, except as an occupier country. This is said in the commentary of spokesman for the MFA Oleh Nikolenko regarding the statements of speaker of the Russian MFA Maria Zakharova on the alleged "illegitimacy" of Ukraine's efforts to return the occupied Crimea, - Ukrinform reports.
Nikolenko noted that the threats of the Russian MFA against Ukraine and other member states of the Crimean Platform are another manifestation of the continuing marginalization of Russian foreign policy.
He also emphasized that at the UN level, the actions of the Russian Federation in the Crimea received a clear international legal definition - an act of aggression.
"Russia does not have any status in the Crimea, except as an occupier country. The conversation about encroachment on the "territorial integrity of Russia" is an example of the altered perception of reality. The thief does not acquire legal ownership of the thing he has stolen. Russian internationally recognized borders have long been known. They do not include the Crimea and Sevastopol", - the press secretary of the Ukrainian MFA stated.
He recalled that the national strategy approved by the NSDC of Ukraine and the currently being created Crimean Platform are designed to bring efforts to de-occupy the Crimea to a system level.
According to Nikolenko, the level of support that Ukraine receives at the stage of promoting a new international format and the efforts made by the Russian Federation to discredit this initiative make it possible to speak about the correctness of the chosen path.
As reported, press secretary of the Russian MFA Maria Zakharova stated that all Kyiv's efforts to return the Crimea were "illegitimate" and could not be perceived otherwise than "the threat of aggression against two constituent entities of the Russian Federation", and the participation of any countries and organizations in such actions, including the Crimean Platform initiative, will be viewed "as an unfriendly step towards Russia, as a direct encroachment on its territorial integrity".