“Unrealistic and absurd”: Russia answered the call of ex-US ambassadors to “return” Crimea against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic

The arguments of former American diplomats about the transfer of Crimea to Ukraine amid the spread of coronavirus are absurd. This was stated by spokesman for the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov.

“This is perfect, let's just say ... the point of view is unrealistic, in many ways even absurd,” he said.

According to the press secretary of the head of state, “as for the Crimea, the question is“ if ”- neither“ if ”nor“ when ”- is there.” He emphasized that Crimea is a part of Russia.

Earlier, former US diplomats published in the NPR publication material on dialogue opportunities with Russia that are opening up in connection with the spread of COVID-19 in the world. The authors of the text are former US ambassadors in Kiev Stephen Pifer, John Herbst and William Taylor.

In their conclusions, the authors build on the assertion that Russia is allegedly involved in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. At the same time, the Russian side has repeatedly pointed out that we are talking about an intra-Ukrainian conflict and the Russian Federation is only trying to resolve this problem.

“Given the devastating impact on health systems and the global economy, the COVID-19 crisis may present an unexpected opportunity to resolve the only armed conflict in Europe and at the same time stop the encroachments of Russian President Vladimir Putin on international standards of behavior,” American diplomats say .

The text says that the main restrictions are associated with the "aggression" of Russia in the Donbass. According to the authors of the article, these restrictions can be removed, leaving sanctions for joining the peninsula.

The authors of the text believe that in the case of Russia's “departure” from Crimea, one can consider the possibility of lifting the sanctions imposed on Russia after the peninsula was returned to the Russian Federation. Recall that the reunion occurred in 2014 as a result of a referendum among residents of the Crimea, most of whom spoke out in favor of returning to Russia.

We add that representatives of the American administration systematically make statements on the status of Crimea, although Russia has repeatedly stated that the peninsula does not need to be revised.

One of the last notable American speeches on this subject was a statement by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in February 2020. He said that "the United States will not and never will recognize Russia's claim to sovereignty over the Crimean peninsula" and called on Moscow to "return" Crimea to Ukraine.

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According to the head of the Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, the US political elite "confuses fantasies with reality."

“The USA is the world leader in the number of people infected with coronavirus, the number of victims of infection approaches 13 thousand, and American politicians dream of either colonizing the moon or“ returning ”the Crimea. I think that this is exactly the case when it is harmful to dream. First of all, for America itself, whose political elite is so carried away by ideological chimeras that it confuses their fantasies with reality, ”Aksyonov wrote on VKontakte.

In turn, a member of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Crimean Senator Sergei Tsekov also believes that the arguments of the former ambassadors do not correspond to the current situation.

“They draw some illogical conclusions. Various proposals, statements that relate to Crimea, do not fit into the logic of today and in the situation that is developing. How Crimea can return in connection with the pandemic, I can’t even imagine, ”Tsekov explained in a conversation with RT.

According to the parliamentarian, former US ambassadors should be more concerned about what is happening in their country.

According to Johns Hopkins University of America, the United States leads the world in the number of coronavirus infected COVID-19. In the United States, there are almost 400 thousand infected, which is more than 25% of the total number of patients with coronavirus.

In particular, the State Duma deputy from the Crimea, Andrei Kozenko, drew attention to this circumstance. He pointed out the problems that the United States faced in the fight against infection.

“Representatives of the country, which today ranks first in the number of cases of coronavirus, give advice to other countries on how to deal with the pandemic and what“ benefits ”to derive from this,” the deputy said in an interview with RT.

He also stressed that the call to stop the bloodshed should be sent to Kiev.