Photo from UNIAN

Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has returned a note of protest sent by Ukraine's Foreign Ministry over President Vladimir Putin's visit to occupied Crimea, without considering it.

"As for the note of protest mentioned in a statement of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, sent to the Russian Foreign Ministry, we return such notes without considering them or reacting to them," the Russian ministry said on Tuesday, according to the Russian news agency TASS.

"We would like to emphasize that neither the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, nor anybody else was empowered to dictate to the Russian leadership when and how to organize the schedule of visits to the regions in their 'own' state," the ministry said.

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Read alsoPutin’s Crimea visit "violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty": Poroshenko

As was reported earlier, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry on Monday, March 18, sent a note to the Russian Foreign Ministry in connection with Putin's visit to Crimea on the fifth anniversary of the annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula by Russia.

"A note of protest was filed to the Russian Foreign Ministry in connection with Putin's visit to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol," the Ukrainian ministry said in a statement on its website.

The Ukrainian authorities insist the visit violates Ukraine's state sovereignty and territorial integrity.