Ukraine protested against Putin visiting the annexed peninsula on the fifth anniversary of its occupation

Open source

The Russian Federation's Foreign Ministry returned the protests note back to their colleagues in Ukraine; previously, the Ukrainian authority blamed Vladimir Putin's visit to the annexed Crimea on the fifth anniversary of its occupation.

The press office of the Russian ministry reported that on Tuesday.

'...We return the notes of that kind without any consideration or reaction. We'd like to stress that neither Ukrainian foreign ministry nor anyone else has the right to point out to the Russian leadership how and when to build up the schedule of visiting regions in its own state', the Russian Foreign Ministry wrote.

Apart from that, the Russian diplomatic entity urged Ukraine to recognize Crimea part of Russia.

'We call on the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to recognize the real state of affairs; the residents of Crimea and Sevastopol made their historical choice in spring 2014 and re-joined Russia ultimately', the office claimed.

On March 18, Russian president Vladimir Putin visited the annexed Crimea. During the visit, the Russian president launched two local thermal power plants at the maximum output rate.

Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014. Ukraine immediately announced the peninsula a temporarily occupied territory, putting February 20 as the official beginning of the temporary occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol by Russia. The international organizations and Western governments blamed Russia's actions, treating the annexation of Crimea illegal.