Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio marked the two-year anniversary of Russia’s illegal annexation of the Crimea by calling on the administration and European leaders to continue to push for restoration of Ukraine’s sovereignty.
“Today marks 2 yrs since Russia’s illegal annexation of #Crimea,” said Portman, who co-chairs the Senate Ukraine caucus, on Twitter. The United States and European Union “must not waver on full restoration of Ukraine’s sovereignty,” Portman added.
“As co-chair of the Senate #Ukraine caucus, I will continue to stand with Ukrainians in their fight to build a free and democratic future,” he said in a separate tweet on Friday.
Portman’s call comes as the EU marked the two-year anniversary by calling on countries to impose sanctions on Russia for taking the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine. Russia says Crimea is historically Russian land and the status is non-negotiable.
“The European Union remains committed to fully implementing its non-recognition policy, including through restrictive measures,” the European Council, representing all member EU countries, said in its statement, marking the anniversary. “The EU calls again on U.N. member states to consider similar non-recognition measures.”
A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to the Europeans by saying “Russia has not discussed and will never discuss its regions with anyone.”
The State Department said earlier this week in a statement that the U.S. “will not accept the redrawing of borders by force in the 21st century.”
State Department Spokesman John Kirby said “[s]anctions 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,” he said.
