The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine says the U.S. government will never accept Russia's attempted annexation of Crimea.
"We welcome the UNGA [United Nations General Assembly] resolution urging Russia to uphold its obligations as an occupying power in Crimea and immediately end its violations and abuses there. Russia must free unlawfully detained Ukrainians and give unfettered access to human rights monitors. We will never accept Russia's attempted annexation of Crimea. Crimea is Ukraine," the U.S. diplomats wrote on Facebook.
UNGA resolution: What is known
The UN General Assembly at a plenary session on December 16 adopted the resolution on the situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea occupied by the Russian Federation.
Read alsoUkraine tells EU of Crimean Platform conceptThe key element of the new resolution is the call on the international community to strengthen pressure on Russia to make Moscow fulfill its international obligations as an occupying power.
A total of 64 countries backed the updated text of the resolution, 23 countries voted against it, and 86 abstained.
Russian occupation of Crimea: Background
- Russia occupied Ukraine's Crimea in March 2014 after its troops had occupied the peninsula. An illegal referendum was held for Crimeans to decide on accession to Russia. De-facto Crimean authorities reported that allegedly 96.77% of the Crimean population had voted for acceding to Russia.
- On March 18, 2014, the so-called "agreement on the accession" of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to Russia was signed in the Kremlin.
- The West did not recognize the annexation in response to which sanctions against Russia were introduced.
- Ukraine's parliament voted to designate February 20, 2014, as the official date when the temporary occupation of Crimea began.
