Newly appointed U.S. Envoy to UN: Russia should stop occupation of Crimea

The newly appointed U.S. Permanent Representative to UN strongly condemned Russia’s aggressive actions in Ukraine in her first appearance at the UN Security Council session, calling for ‘immediate end of Russian occupation of Crimea’.

“I must condemn the aggressive actions of Russia,’ Nikki Haley stated during her first public appearance at the UN Security Council session in the capacity of new U.S. President’s envoy to this organization.

“We do want to better our relations with Russia. However, a dire situation in eastern Ukraine is the one that demands clear and strong condemnation of Russia’s actions,” the U.S. envoy stated, pointing out that sanctions imposed on Russia following its annexation of Crimea would remain in place until Russia returns control over that territory to Kyiv.

“The USA continue to condemn and call for immediate end of Russian occupation of Crimea…Crimea is a part of Ukraine,’ the U.S. diplomat stated.

As a reminder, when asked about possible recognition of Crimea as Russia’s territory during the campaign period, in July last year, presidential candidate Donald Trump, didn’t exclude such a possibility, saying: ‘…the people of Crimea, from what I’ve heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were.’

There was escalation of tension in Ukraine’s east on January 29. Hostilities resumed around Avdeevka town, in the vicinity of Donetsk. According to official Kyiv, 10 servicemen of the Ukrainian armed forces were killed and 66 were reported wounded in the period of escalation. The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) also reported on casualties.