Crimea and four other regions became parts of Russia at the wishes of the local population, the diplomat said
Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia speaks during the UN General Assembly meeting at the UN Headquarters in New York City on February 23, 2024. © Yuki Iwamura / AFP
Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia has rejected the accusations that Russia has been occupying parts of Ukraine. He made his comments during the session of the UN General Assembly convened to discuss the fighting between the two countroes, which enters its third year on Saturday.
Ukraine and its Western backers used the meeting to condemn Russia’s “occupation” of its neighbor’s lands. Speaking from the podium, Nebenzia rejected this notion. “In reality, there is no such thing as temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. They are Russian regions,” he said.
He added that Crimea, as well as the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, and the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions became parts of Russia following “the legitimate expression of the will of their people.”
Crimea voted to leave Ukraine and join Russia shortly after the 2014 US-backed coup in Kiev. Four other former Ukrainian regions followed suit after holding referendums in September 2022.
Read more
Nebenzia went on to reiterate Moscow’s stance that the coup in Kiev was one of the root causes of the ongoing conflict and stressed that Russia launched its military operation in 2022 to protect the largely Russian-speaking population of Donbass from Kiev’s troops. He argued that the conflict could have been “avoided” if it was not for Ukraine’s “nationalist” policies.
“Russia did not start this war. Russia came to finally stop it. All Kiev had to do was to respect the rights of the people and allow them to live peacefully, receive education in their native language and have the freedom of religion and the freedom of thought,” Nebenzia said.
Ukrainian envoy Dmitry Kuleba accused Russia of aiming to “destroy” his country. “Ukraine survived the invasion, and Ukraine will win the war,” he stated. “If we act collectively and jointly, this will happen sooner rather than later.”
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, in turn, urged Russia to “put an end to its campaign of cruelty” and pull back “its forces from Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders.”
Moscow has previously said that it was open to a peaceful settlement, but stressed that all newly incorporated regions, including Crimea, must stay under Russian control.
