Ukrainian
President Petro Poroshenko has posted a video on Facebook to reveal details of
his visit to the Autonomous Republic of #Crimea prior to its annexation on
February 28, 2014, when he was Member of Parliament before he was elected
president in May 2014.
"I made
up my mind – I would go there on the day of the pseudo-voting by the Supreme
Council of Crimea. I secured authority from the then Chairman of the Verkhovna
Rada and [simultaneously] acting President [Oleksandr Turchynov]. My agenda
included negotiations with Crimean Supreme Council members, the presidium, its
chairman – I intended to offer all they had been seeking. At that time, we were
ready to discuss every detail as for the legislation of Ukraine, the Crimean
Constitution and ensure necessary safeguards of the people's interests, even in
their understanding," Poroshenko said.
At the
airport, he saw troops standing in a line and blocking the airport's exit. They
asked Poroshenko not to go to the Crimean Supreme Council's building and
proposed holding a meeting at a certain "bath and laundry complex"
outside the city of Simferopol. Poroshenko said he refused and went to the
Council's building.
"What I
saw: the Council's building was blocked and locked while the 'referendum' was
being held. There was no civilian, there was a cordon of Russian troops. Under
international law, it was an absolutely clear act of annexation by another state's
armed forces. And more – those were not the military of the Black
Sea Fleet. They were special forces, trained for such tasks, brought from the
[Russian] continent," Poroshenko said.
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