White House: US does not recognize Russia’s claim on Crimea

Sanctions against Russia will remain in place, US press secretary says.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders | Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

The U.S. does not recognize Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, the White House press secretary told reporters Monday, in an attempt to clear up conflicting statements ahead of a July meeting between Donald Trump and the Russian president.

“We do not recognize Russia’s attempt to annex Crimea,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. “We agree to disagree with Russia on that front. And our Crimea sanctions against Russia will remain in place until Russia returns the peninsula to Ukraine.”

Her comments came ahead of a planned meeting between the two leaders in Finland later this month, and amid concern that Trump could recognize Russia’s claim on the territory as part of the bilateral discussions.

Trump, who has not publicly criticized the Russian annexation, told reporters last week “we’re going to have to see” when asked whether he would consider accepting Russia’s annexation of the peninsula.

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton on Sunday made similar comments during an interview with CBS, saying: “We’ll see what happens when the two of them get together,” adding that Trump’s plan is to raise a “whole range of issues” in order to “size up” Putin.

Trump last month called for Russia to be reinstated into the G7 group of leading economies, from which it was removed in 2014 after its annexation of Crimea.

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