“In April 2014, we gathered in Geneva: your humble servant, Kerry, High Representative of the European Union Ashton and the then acting head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Deshchitsa,” Lavrov said.
According to him, the parties then "wrote a whole page, which everyone approved."
“It said that we, the participants from Russia, the United States and the European Union, welcome the commitments of the Ukrainian authorities to implement decentralization in the country with the participation of all regions of Ukraine,” he added.
As the minister noted, this was after the Crimean referendum.
This paper, Lavrov stressed, was then "forgotten" by the US, EU and Ukraine.
“Then at this meeting, Kerry told me that everyone understands that Crimea is Russian, that the people of Crimea wanted to return, but we held a referendum so quickly that it did not fit into the standards of such events.
He asked to talk with President Putin, organize another referendum, announce it in advance, invite international observers, and said that they would support their direction there.
The result will be the same, but we seem to maintain decency.
I said that if they understand that it was a manifestation of the will of the people, then why arrange such performances? "
- said Lavrov.
In 2019, Lavrov also said that Kerry proposed to hold another referendum on the reunification of Crimea with Russia.
Crimea became a Russian region after a referendum was held there in March 2014, in which the majority of the peninsula's residents voted for reunification with Russia.