Militarized Crimea 'grave threat' to Europe: Ukraine

By Ali Cura

KIEV

Russia’s militarization of Crimea is a “grave threat” to European security, Ukraine said Tuesday.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine believes that militarization of the Crimean peninsula and its use for Russian military operations in Syria constitutes a grave threat to European security,” the statement said.

“It also goes against international efforts to bring peace to the Middle East,” it said.

Security and stability cannot be ensured in Europe unless Russia stopped its “belligerent foreign policy aimed at redrawing borders and reinstating Cold War spheres of influence”, the statement added.

Russia has found itself in a standoff with former Cold War foe United States following a deadly chemical weapons attack in Syria last week and the U.S. military action against the regime of Bashar al-Assad, which Moscow supports.

Ukraine's foreign ministry also welcomed the communique released at the end of the two-day G7 Energy Ministers' meeting on Monday and Tuesday.

It praised the G7 nations’ “full support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity”, as well as “their resolve in urging the Russian Federation to stop its aggression” against the country.

Ukraine has been wracked by conflict since March 2014 following Russia’s annexation of Crimea after an illegal independence vote.

Fighting between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russia separatists has seen around 10,000 people killed, according to the UN.