BRUSSELS – The European Union and Ukraine welcomed the U.S. Crimea Declaration, which throws aside any concerns over U.S. stance towards the Ukrainian peninsula and its illegal annexation by Russia in 2014.
U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo released the Crimea Declaration on July 25, calling Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 illegal and stated that “the United States reaffirms as policy its refusal to recognize the Kremlin’s claims of sovereignty over territory seized by force in contravention of international law.”
This statement followed U.S. President Donald Trump’s earlier controversial remark that Crimea is a part of Russia because everyone “speaks Russian there.”
In the Crimea Declaration, Pompeo referred to the Welles Declaration, issued on July 23, 1940 by Sumner Welles, in which the United States condemned the June 1940 occupation by the Soviet Union of the three Baltic States, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and refused to recognize their annexation as Soviet Republics.
“In concert with allies, partners, and the international community, the United States rejects Russia’s attempted annexation of Crimea and pledges to maintain this policy until Ukraine’s territorial integrity is restored,” the document reads.
The EU reacted immediately with a favorable press statement, saying that “the U.S. Crimea Declaration illustrates the U.S. continued strong and principled stance on Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol and violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“As made clear in High Representative Federica Mogherini’s Declaration on behalf of the EU on March 16, the EU does not recognize and continues to condemn the illegal annexation. We remain firmly committed to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and to fully implementing our non-recognition policy, including through restrictive measures. This violation of international law remains a direct challenge to international security, with grave implications for the international legal order that protects the unity and sovereignty of all States,” the EU statement reads.
A similar reaction came from Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
“I welcome Washington’s historic statement on the non-recognition of an attempt by the Russian aggressor to annex the Ukrainian Crimea. (It’s) a worthy answer to the hybrid provocations of the Kremlin after Helsinki (summit). We are grateful to the Donald Trump Administration for the uncompromising position to support the territorial integrity of Ukraine in internationally recognized borders,” Poroshenko stated.
On the same day, the White House said Trump would not meet Russian President Vladimir Putin until the next year. As the White House National Security Adviser John Bolton said, Trump decided not to do so until “the Russia witch-hunt is over.”
By the “witch hunt,” Trump means the investigation of the special counsel Robert Mueller on Russia’s meddling in the presidential election.
