Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said Ukraine cannot demand compensation from Russia for the annexation of Crimea, as this will harm the strategy for dealing with the illegal occupation of the territories of Ukraine.
"Do you want us to recognize the illegal occupation and ask for compensation? Or what? Like, pay us the money and everything will be fine? No!" he told RFE/RL's Krym.Realii (Crimea Realities) media project in an interview.
Read alsoUkraine to get occupied Crimea back – Zelensky
"The strategy is completely different. We insist that this is temporary, illegal occupation that is taking place, emphasizing this is a temporary phenomenon, it is illegal, and under international law, this is an act of occupation," the minister said.
At the same time, Kuleba said companies could independently file lawsuits against Russia.
"It is very important to us that the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation should not be recognized in court proceedings in a wider status than the status of an occupying state. But our key task, my key task as a Foreign Ministry representative, is to keep this framework that it is temporary, illegal occupation," he added.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry urged international partners to step up sanctions against Russia over holding the vote in the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas and Crimea for Russian Constitution amendments.
