WASHINGTON, D.C.
The Obama administration on Friday struck out at Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the Crimean peninsula, saying that the action is an impediment to resolving Ukraine’s ongoing tumult.
Russia formally annexed the Crimean Peninsula on March 21 following a referendum that Ukraine, the EU and U.S. view as illegitimate. Putin’s visit on Friday is his first since the Kremlin appropriated the region.
“President Putin's presence in Crimea is certainly not helpful,” said Jay Carney, the White House Press Secretary, while speaking to American news outlet MSNBC. “The international community, including the United States, does not recognize the illegal annexation by Russia of Crimea, part of the sovereign nation of Ukraine.”
- "Provocative and unnecessary"
Carney’s State Department counterpart, Jen Psaki, added, “Putin's trip to Crimea is not in the direction we're looking for.”
"Our view is that this trip is provocative and unnecessary. Crimea belongs to Ukraine, and we don't recognize of course the illegal and illegitimate steps by Russia in that regard" Psaki told reporters at the daily briefing.
Their comments follow separate phone calls that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, and Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the Ukrainian Prime Minister earlier Friday.
The matter of Putin’s visit was not addressed in Kerry’s call with Lavrov, according to Psaki.
During both of his calls, Kerry discussed efforts to resolve the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
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