Herashchenko: Putin’s statements about ‘referendum’ in Crimea should be used in court
The first vice-speaker of the Verkhovna Rada and representative of Ukraine in the humanitarian subgroup of the Tripartite Contact group for Donbas, Iryna Herashchenko, stated that Ukrainian diplomats and lawyers must use the statement of Russian President Vladimir Putin about Moscow’s organization of the so-called referendum in the Crimea, for the lawsuits in international courts.
“The most important thing that was said at the press conference (Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of the United States Donald Trump) is Putin’s admission of guilt by recognizing that Russia organized the“referendum” in the Crimea. Our lawyers and diplomats need to use this admission in the preparation of claims for international courts,” wrote Herashchenko on Facebook.
Also, according to her, it is important that Putin admitted that Trump does not recognize the annexation of the Crimea.
“It is important for us to have unity and unanimity of the Senate and Congress, the State Department, the Pentagon, the White House, Republicans and Democrats on the key points: the non-recognition of the annexation of the Crimea, the occupation of Donbas, violation of the Ukrainian borders and Russia’s responsibility for this. Trump’s signature on the statement of the NATO summit must be harsh for Russia. Also, the meeting with President Poroshenko the day before the meeting with Putin, when all other bilateral meetings were canceled”, said the first vice-speaker.
On July 16th, Russian President Vladimir Putin, at a news conference in Helsinki, following the meeting with US President Donald Trump, said that the US president thought the annexation of the Crimea was unlawful.
“Trump’s position regarding the Crimea is known, and he adheres to his belief that the accession to Russia was unlawful. We have a different position. We believe that we held a referendum in accordance with international law,” Putin said.
At the same time, Trump did not react to the question about the Crimea.
The internationally recognized Ukrainian territory of Crimea was annexed by the Russian Federation in March of 2014 in the wake of the Ukrainian revolution. The Kremlin has faced international condemnation for its annexation of the Peninsula, leading many western countries to impose economic sanctions against Russia. In the United Nations, only Afghanistan, North Korea, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Syria recognize Crimea as a legitimate federal subject of Russia.