(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Shington may 10 (qna) - russian president vladimir putin's first visit to crimea since russia annexed the peninsula from ukraine in march was condemned by the us and european union.
the us state department said the trip was "provocative and unnecessary". the kiev government called it a "gross violation of ukraine's sovereignty".
us state department spokeswoman jen psaki called putin's trip provocative and unnecessary adding "crimea belongs to ukraine and we don't recognise of course the illegal and illegitimate steps by russia in that regard."
maja kocijancic a spokeswoman for european union foreign policy chief catherine ashton said the eu "regretted" the presence of the russian president at a military parade in crimea's port of sevastopol.
speaking from the estonian capital tallinn nato 's secretary general anders fogh rasmussen branded putin's crimea visit "inappropriate". (qna)
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