MOSCOW, June 30 (Itar-Tass) - RIA Novosti. President of the United States Donald Trump did not rule out that he recognizes Crimea as part of Russia, the words of the head of state are given by members of the presidential pool.

"Let's see," he answered the correspondents' question whether they could recognize the annexation of Crimea to Russia. At the same time, in the loss of the Crimea by Ukraine, Trump accused his predecessor. "(Barack - ed.) Obama made it possible," he said.

Russian-speaking region

Previously, the resource BuzzFeed News, citing a diplomatic source, said that Trump told the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) at a summit in Canada that Crimea belongs to Russia.

He also said that Trump called into question the support that G7 leaders are giving to Kiev, saying that "Ukraine is one of the most corrupt countries in the world."

The White House declined to comment on this information. Adviser to the US President for National Security John Bolton said that Washington's position on the belonging of the Crimea remains unchanged.

Later, Trump expressed the opinion that his predecessor, Barack Obama, "lost the Crimea," since he was not respected by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia Maria Zakharova, commenting on the statement of Trump, stressed that the topic of the status of the Crimea is closed.
Russian senator Alexei Pushkov, commenting on the words of Trump, noted that the current leadership of Ukraine has lost the Crimea, and not the former US President Barack Obama.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavel Klimkin expressed the opinion that Trump's words about the Russian-speaking Crimea were "taken out of context".

Crimea became the Russian region after a referendum held there in March 2014, where 96.77% of the Crimean voters and 95.6% of Sevastopol voted for joining the Russian Federation. The Crimean authorities held a referendum after a coup in Ukraine in February 2014.

The Russian leadership has repeatedly stated that Crimean residents voted democratically, in full compliance with international law and the UN Charter, to reunite with Russia. According to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, the issue of Crimea "is closed definitively".

Summit in Helsinki

On Thursday afternoon, the White House and the Kremlin simultaneously announced that the summit of Russian and US presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will be held on July 16 in Helsinki.

The leaders of the two countries, as they said in the Kremlin, are going to discuss the prospects for the development of bilateral relations and topical issues of the international agenda. The White House in turn noted that Trump hoped that meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Helsinki would reduce tensions in relations and initiate constructive cooperation.

The American leader himself said that it would be "wonderful" if he "got along" with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and added that he was looking forward to meeting with him.