Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's visit to Crimea on July 24, where Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych is staying, was a kind of “inspection,” according to Volodymyr Vasylenko, former Ukrainian ambassador to Great Britain.
“It is seems to be an inspection tour of Putin,” Vasylenko, now an international scholar, said at a news conference on July 26. He added that the main aim of the Putin’s visit to Crimea was “to make certain that [his] partner is under control.”
Vasylenko served as ambassador to Great Britain from 1998 to 2002.
