You're reading: Ukraine hopes Russia will properly assess statements by its consul in Simferopol on deportation of Crimean Tatars

Kyiv, May 23 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has said it hopes that the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian authorities will make a proper assessment of statements made by Russian Consul General in Simferopol Vladimir Andreyev, who in an interview with the ATR television channel actually justified the deportation of the Crimean Tatars, the ministry's information policy department reported on Wednesday.

 A senior advisor of the Russian Embassy in Ukraine, Vladimir Likhachev, was invited to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, and the Ukrainian side expressed its concern about incorrect statements made by Russia’s consul general in Simferopol Andreyev with respect to representatives of the Crimean Tatar people in Ukraine.

“The Russian Embassy’s representative was told that the Crimean Tatar people are an integral part of the multi-ethnic Ukrainian society. The agreement on matters related to the restoration of the rights of deported persons, national minorities and peoples, which was signed in Bishkek on October 9, 1992, and also signed and ratified by Russia, remains in force by this time. Therefore, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry believes that the official position of the Russian Federation is determined by the provisions of this agreement, rather than the opinion of a Russian consular agent,” the ministry’s press service reported.

In this regard, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry expressed hope that the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian authorities would make a proper assessment of the statements made by Andreyev.