State Department: The US will never recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea
The United States will never recognize Crimea’s accession to Russia. This was declared by the USA State Department’s Coordinator for Sanctions Policy Daniel Fried in an interview with Delfi.
"We have never recognized the incorporation of the Baltic countries into the Soviet Union and I am proud of it. The United States is capable of incredibly long patience. In the case of the Crimea, I can confirm that the United States will never recognize the accession. In the Budapest Memorandum, Russia had recognized the Crimea as part of Ukraine. I remember this very well, I was there together with President Clinton," Fried stressed.
According to him, the United States are determined to insist on compliance with the Minsk agreements, but their implementation still remains under question.
"The problem is that it is difficult to demand implementation of the agreements from Ukrainians, if their soldiers are dying every day," Fried believes. He also agrees with Ukraine’s position that Russia has not been fulfilling its part of the arrangements.
Earlier, the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko said that he intended to return the Crimea and the Donbas in a political and diplomatic way.