It is “highly unlikely” President Trump will recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman said on Sunday.
On the eve of Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Huntsman described the 2014 annexation as a “violation of international law.”
“We all recognize that. You look at eastern Ukraine, the so-called breakaway province has come a violation of international law,” Huntsman said on “Fox News Sunday,” adding that the violation is also one against Europe. “These are very, very serious issues and issues that we have some serious sanctions tied to, by the way.”
Analysts are worried by Trump’s refusal to explicitly rule out accepting the Crimean annexation, but Thursday, during a NATO press conference, Trump told reporters that he was “not happy about Crimea.”
Trump placed the blame on the Russian annexation on the Obama administration, saying it “happened on Obama’s watch,” and gave an uncertain prediction about its future. “What will happen with Crimea from this point, that I cannot tell you,” Trump told reporters Thursday.
Trump and Putin are set to meet Monday in Helsinki, Finland for what the president has described as a “loose” meeting.
