The Russian Embassy in London responded to Johnson's article on the Crimea

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MOSCOW, February 24 (Itar-Tass) - RIA Novosti. Employees of the Russian Embassy in London responded to an article by British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on "the illegal annexation of the Crimea." A corresponding statement appeared on the website of the diplomatic mission.

In the note "The annexation of the Crimea: four years later", published on the portal of the British government, Johnson calls for the preservation of sanctions imposed against Moscow "as long as the Crimean territories remain under the control of the Kremlin, and also until the Minsk agreements are upheld."

The reaction of the Russian diplomatic mission was followed a day later. "It is unfortunate that the article does not mention the fourth anniversary of the coup in Kiev, which was supported by the West in general and the United Kingdom in particular, and during which the Constitution of Ukraine was grossly violated, as well as the agreements between President Yanukovych and the opposition with the mediation of Germany, France and Poland, "the statement said.

Then the diplomats answered four theses from Johnson's article.

On the referendum

The first was the minister's statement about the "fictitious referendum" in the Crimea. "Let me remind you that the right of peoples to self-determination is enshrined in the UN Charter, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966, as well as in the Declaration of Principles of International Law of 1970," the embassy said. It is also stressed that the will of the people is the main criterion of the democratic process. "As for the British experience, Brexit, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar or Scotland are very indicative in this respect," summed up the embassy.

On the change of borders

The second point was the words of the British Minister about "the first violent change of borders since 1945". "We believe that the Serbian people have a different opinion on this issue," the diplomats said, "in 1999, 78 days of bombing of the territory of Yugoslavia actually destroyed it as a state, forcefully (without any referendum) separating Kosovo from Serbia."

About promises

The third thesis of Johnson was a statement that Russia violated its obligations to comply with the Ukrainian borders established by the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. "First, Ukraine's loss of its territorial integrity was the result of internal processes and the democratic resolution of the inhabitants of the Crimea." Secondly, in Ukraine, Ukraine promised to fight aggressive nationalism and chauvinism.This promise was obviously violated, and, by the way, we did not see a special reaction from Great Britain, which remains one of the guarantors of the Budapest Memorandum. "

About the Crimean Tatars

The final statement of the head of the British Foreign Ministry became the words about "the persecution of the Crimean Tatars." "Since the British Foreign Ministry did not have enough of four years to get acquainted with some facts on this issue, we are forced to fill the gaps ourselves." Today, in Crimea, the language of the Crimean Tatars along with Russian and Ukrainian is recognized as official, "the report said.

The statistics below show the involvement of the Crimean Tatars in the political, economic, cultural and religious life of the peninsula.

On the sides of the Minsk Agreements

In Crimea, Kiev's absurd attempts to arrange a "gas blockade"
The Russian embassy also reminded Johnson that the Minsk agreement parties - Kiev, Donetsk and Lugansk, and it is on these three parties that they are responsible for their implementation.

"We believe that the British authorities will finally change their attitude to what is happening in Ukraine, otherwise the constant accusations against Russia will continue to prompt Kiev to pursue a policy that is deliberately doomed to failure," the diplomatic mission concluded.

Crimea joined the Russian Federation after a referendum held there in March 2014. For this decision, more than 95 percent of the inhabitants of the peninsula voted. The plebiscite took place after a coup in Ukraine. Local authorities initiated a referendum after a coup in Ukraine in February 2014.

Ukraine still considers Crimea "temporarily occupied territory". At the same time Moscow has repeatedly stated that the accession of the peninsula does not contradict the norms of international law and the UN Charter.

Link: https://ria.ru/mediawars/20180224/1515226225.html