Two days ago the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry asked the Russian Foreign Ministry to confirm that there were no Russian armed forces in the Ukrainian territory but has received no reply so far, Ambassador of Ukraine to Armenia Ivan Kuhta said in an interview to Azatutyun.am.
"Some Russian politicians claim that there are no Russian troops in the Crimea but our defense ministry officials and border guards report otherwise, which means a violation of numerous agreements, including the agreement on deployment of the Russia Black Sea Fleet in the territory of Ukraine," Kuhta said.
Kuhta is displeased with the reports coming from Russia that the rights of Russian-speaking Ukrainian citizens are being violated and that they have no single delegate in the new Ukrainian government. "I worked in the Crimea for 15 years and know that region very well. My wife is from there, while I am from Western Ukraine. We have lived for many years already and have never discriminated each other into Russian- or Ukrainian-speaking. I have lots of friend in the Crimea and I have never heard anybody breaking the rights of Russian-speaking people there. The whole Crimea, the whole east of Ukraine, lots of people in Kyiv speak Russian and I see no problem here," Kuhta said.
He believes that the forthcoming referendum in the Crimea cannot have legal force and is contrary to Ukraine's rights. "Representatives of international organizations also say that this referendum cannot be legal as it can be sanctioned only by Ukraine's Supreme Rada," Kuhta said.