Pro-Russian organizations in Crimea criticized the statement of RF Prime Minister Vladimir Putin who claimed in an interview with Germany’s television that Russia has “long recognized” Ukraine`s borders, and the Crimea in southern Ukraine “is not a disputed territory”.
A leader of “Vera” pro-Russian law-enforcement organization told UNIAN that indignant Crimean residents have been calling him all the time. “How can he decide for us, Russians, our future, at the Russian land of Crimea?”, the politician claims adding he will keep on fighting for the unification with Russia.
Another pro-Russian politician, deputy of the Leninska district city council of Sevastopol, also criticized the Putin’s statement and assessed it as a “treason of national interests of Russia”. The deputy stressed that Sevastopol residents “are ready to fight against forced Ukrainianization even without somebody else’s help”.
However, he did not rule out that the statement of the Russian Prime Minister could be a “sophisticated diplomatic trick”. If necessary, the deputy believes, Russia will show its political will in Crimea as well as it did in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin rejected suggestions that Russia may target pro-Western Ukraine after recognizing Georgia`s breakaway regions. Russia has ``long recognized`` Ukraine`s borders, Putin said yesterday in an interview with Germany`s ARD television. Problems among Tatar, Ukrainian and Russian populations in the Crimea are an internal issue for the Ukraine, Putin said.
