Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Oleksiy Reznikov said that Crimea is not annexed, but temporarily occupied by Russia.
“I once again call on public figures, their press services, media, experts and simply journalists to correctly use the definitions. Neither Ukraine nor the entire civilized world recognizes the annexation of Crimea. Yes, there was an attempt of annexation, it was an attempt, but de jure and de facto, the peninsula is temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, so Ukraine and the whole world recognizes this territory as temporarily occupied. Actually, this is also determined by the law of Ukraine on ensuring the rights and freedoms of citizens and the legal regime in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine. I am sure, the Ukrainian peninsula, as well as occupied Luhansk and Donetsk regions will soon return under the control of the Ukrainian government,” the ministry’s press service said, citing Reznikov.
The ministry said that “annexation” provides for a change in sovereignty, that is, the legal status of the territory, and the use of this term in relation to the Ukrainian peninsula is incorrect and categorically erroneous.
At the same time, “occupation” is a temporary phenomenon that does not provide for a change in sovereignty over the territory. The occupation provides for a number of obligations of the occupying country, in particular, in the field of respect for human rights.
“Therefore, when referring to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, it is correct to use the phrase ‘temporarily occupied territories’ as in the case of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine,” Reznikov said.
