Sanctions against Russia to remain until Crimea returned to Ukraine - U.S. Department of State

The United States will never accept Russia’s attempted annexation of Crimea. 

This is said in the official statement of the representative of the U.S. Department of State, released on Wednesday night, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Today, as Russia’s occupation of Crimea enters its third year, we reaffirm our commitment to a united, sovereign Ukraine. The United States does not recognize Russia’s "referendum” of March 16, 2014 or its attempted annexation of Crimea, which violates international law," the representative of the U.S. Department of State notes.

He stresses that the United States remains deeply concerned by the situation in Russian-occupied Crimea, where occupation “authorities” suppress dissent and where ethnic and religious minorities, especially Crimean Tatars and ethnic Ukrainians, face serious and ongoing repression.

"Nongovernmental organizations and independent media are still being silenced or driven out, and international observers are still denied access to the peninsula," reads the statement.

"We will not accept the redrawing of borders by force in the 21st century. Sanctions related to Crimea will remain in place as long as the occupation continues. We again call on Russia to end that occupation and return Crimea to Ukraine," the document says.

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