“Crimea is ours,” Putin responded to opponents in advance
“Crimea is ours,” - this is how Vladimir Putin responded today to the remark of the host of the Valdai Club panel, political scientist Fyodor Lukyanov, who said that there are many who want to argue with the Russian president’s assertion that Russia is not seizing anything.
“This is where the dispute usually comes to a dead end. What is democracy? People power. It manifests itself through referendums and elections. People came to Crimea and voted: we want to be independent, and the next step is to be part of Russia,” he said, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
The Russian president recalled that many Western countries at one time called for the illegal separation of Kosovo, despite the fact that a referendum was not held there.
“There was no referendum in Kosovo. There was only a parliamentary vote. And everyone who wanted to destroy the former Yugoslavia - thank God. We don't agree with this. We proceed from the will of the people living in this territory,” Putin said.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.