“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs considers unacceptable the statements of the Minister of Economy of Slovakia, which cast doubt on the territorial integrity of Ukraine <…> We demand a public refutation by Mr. Minister of his statements that do not contribute to the development of friendly Ukrainian-Slovak relations,” Nikolenko said.
He added that the official of a country friendly to Ukraine showed a “distorted perception” of the issue of ownership of Crimea and sanctions.
Earlier, Sulik said that EU sanctions against Russia only bring harm. The Russians will not return Crimea to Ukraine, so we need to look ahead and develop relations with Moscow. Representatives of the top leadership of other EU countries, according to Sulik, share this view. They talk about this “behind closed doors” of meetings in the EU. At the same time, the situation on the border between Russia and Ukraine has a negative impact on relations between the EU countries and Moscow, he stressed.
Crimea became part of Russia in March 2014. This was preceded by a referendum on the status of the peninsula, as a result of which the vast majority of the inhabitants of the region voted for the transition to Russian jurisdiction.