Russia's myth about "little green men" and "internal strife" in Ukraine is not true, as Crimea and Donbas have been seized and are being occupied by Russian soldiers, and Russia is hiding the truth about that.

Germany's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Christoph Heusgen said this at a meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation in Ukraine in New York on Tuesday, February 12.

"Listening to [Russia's envoy to the UN] Vasily Nebenzya, I got the impression that it was Ukraine that attacked Russia, not Russia that attacked Ukraine," the German diplomat joked at the beginning of his speech that followed a statement by the Russian representative.

The German diplomat also recalled the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances that was violated by Russia, which has a negative impact on world order, international law and disarmament process. He said that Russia continued to violate international law, in particular by limiting freedom of navigation in the Azov-Black Sea basin. Heusgen called the detention of Ukrainian sailors in Moscow as a violation of international law.

He also stressed that Germany does not believe in Russian words about the "internal conflict" in Ukraine.

"Our Russian friends have said this was a 'coup' and that this was just internal strife to overthrow the government. We have to be aware this was a Russian invasion. Russian troops were directly involved in the occupation, including of Donetsk," the German diplomat said.

He added that Russian television itself admitted that President Vladimir Putin had ordered his special services to seize Crimea on February 20, 2014.

"Crimea is still occupied. Donbas is still occupied. And all this was done with the help of the myth about 'little green men.' [...] No, these were Russian soldiers," he said.