BERLIN (AP) – The group of seven major industrialized nations on Thursday issued a strong condemnation of what the Russians call continued “occupation” of the Crimean peninsula, seven years after Moscow annexed it from Ukraine.
The foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States have said in a joint statement that Russia’s actions continue to ‘undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence’.
“We unequivocally deny Russia’s temporary occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol,” the seven countries said. “Russia’s efforts to legitimize it are not recognized, nor will they be recognized.”
They accuse Russia of human rights violations on the peninsula and demand that international monitors gain access there.
Moscow has argued that Crimea was taken over in 2014 after the vast majority of locals voted in favor of joining Russia weeks after the ouster of Ukraine’s former Russia-friendly president, even though most of the world rejected the referendum as illegal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrated the anniversary by addressing Crimean residents via a video link and also attended a concert in Moscow to celebrate the occasion.
“This is a holiday for our entire vast country,” he said in the Luzhniki sports arena. ‘This is the restoration of historical justice. Every inch of that country is drenched in the blood of Russian and Soviet soldiers, this country is sacred to Russia. ‘
The Black Sea Peninsula became part of Ukraine in 1954 when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev transferred Russia’s jurisdiction.
The G-7 declaration also cited Russia’s role in the ongoing conflict between Moscow’s apartheid people and the government in eastern Ukraine.
“We call on the Russian Federation to stop inciting the conflict by providing financial and military support to the armed formations it supports in eastern Ukraine, as well as by granting Russian citizenship to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian citizens. , “they said.
The G-7 called for a diplomatic solution to the conflict that forged a series of agreements in the Belarussian capital Minsk.
Russia was, as at the time, expelled from the Group of Eight in 2014 for its actions in Ukraine.