"We've seen the reports. We're going to refer you to the government of Ukraine for further information. I would note that we're also directly in touch with Ukrainians ourselves," Director of the Press Office of the U.S. Department of State Elizabeth Trudeau said at a daily press briefing in Washington, DC, on August 10.
She reiterated that the U.S. position on Crimea remained unchanged.
"Crimea is and will always be part of Ukraine. We condemn and call for an immediate end to the Russian occupation of Crimea, and our Crimea-related sanctions will remain in place until Russia returns the peninsula to Ukraine," she said.
Read alsoUkraine's Foreign Ministry issues statement condemning Russia's provocationsTrudeau also said that the U.S. sees dialogue as an instrument of the Minsk talks on Donbas.
"We always think there's a point of conversation. We always think that dialogue is a process that should be explored. As you know, we've supported the Minsk process as we move forward," she said.
Responding to a question about Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement made on Wednesday evening that he saw no point in holding planned talks on the peace process for eastern Ukraine as a result of the recent developments in Crimea, she said she had not seen his remarks.
"So I can't comment directly on those, but what I will say is dialogue is really where we'd like to see this go," she added.
