The United States considers the “massive military structures” of Russia in Crimea as legitimate purposes for the blows of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said Deputy Head of the State Department Victoria Nuland.
“these are legal goals. Ukraine is striking on them. And we support it. Ukraine will never be safe, while Crimea is at least – not demilitarized,” Nuland said during a performance in the Carnegie Foundation. Her statements are cited by The Moscoüt Times.
According to her, after the annexation in 2014, Russia turned the peninsula into a military bridgehead. In Crimea there are combat capacities, arms warehouses and command centers that threaten Ukraine. At the same time, Nuland emphasized that in Washington they are not afraid to cross the Red Lines spent by the Kremlin, helping Kyiv with the demilitarization of Crimea. She recalled that the United States has never recognized the Peninsula of the Russian and believe that it belongs to Ukraine, like all territories within international recognized boundaries.
Nuland also called on at the end of the Russian-Ukrainian war to ensure guarantees so that Russia could not untie it again. “We should by no means believe – while Vladimir Putin or someone like him is in power – that this is really over. Even if a fair world is achieved, a long -term plan and building the Ukrainian army of the future will still be needed, which could be able To recapture Putin from any hunt to plan something in the future, ”Nuland believes.
The Embassy of the Russian Federation in Washington criticized this statement by Nuland. According to the press secretary of the Russian Embassy in Washington Igor Girenko, the statements of Nuland testify to Washington’s involvement in military conflict.
According to Girenko, “this is not just Washington’s rhetoric, but specific actions.” The United States “actively supply Kyiv with modern complexes”, advise Ukrainian military leaders, participate “in leading to the targets of weapons,” Girenko says. He claims that “it is the United States that are the instigator and incarnator of the confrontation in Ukraine.”