"Return Of Crimea Is Priority Of Ukrainian Domestic And Foreign Policy"

Ukrainian Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev told reporters on Friday (12 Sept) at the United Nations that "the return of the Crimea is and will be an absolute priority for both domestic and foreign policy of Ukraine."

Sergeyev said that "those who expect that the aggression in Donbass forces us to forget about Crimea are deeply mistaken" and added that his government will use "all possible international legal mechanisms to make the aggressor pay a high price for these actions as well as to return Crimea under the control of Ukraine."

With regard to the Minsk protocol, signed last week, the Ambassador said that "this is not about recognition of the self-proclaimed illegal structures such as the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republic, nor it demonstrates a move towards federalization. The decentralization of power in the true context of the protocol means special status for certain regions of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in terms of economic, linguistic and cultural freedoms as well as establishment of preconditions for further local and parliamentary elections."

Sergeyev said that "Russia is direct party to the protocol and it means that Moscow fully shares responsibility for proper implementation of the protocol."

He noted that the protocol "doesn't mention the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, although representatives of those organizations participated in trilateral consultations and signed the protocol as private individuals" and added that "the signing of this protocol doesn't mean legitimizing those terrorist organizations."

Responding to a journalist's question, the Ukrainian Ambassador said "we are able to resist and we know how to resist. What we need from the West is sophisticated counterattack weaponry because we are being attacked by this sophisticated weaponry from the Russian side."

The Minsk protocol was signed by representatives of Russia and Ukraine as well as the OSCE chairperson-in-office for resolving the situation in Ukraine Heidi Tagliavini.

SHOTLIST:
12 SEPTEMBER 2014, NEW YORK CITY

Exterior United Nations headquarters
Dais
Journalists
Photographer
End of meeting

SOUNDBITE (English) Yuriy Sergeyev, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations:
"The return of the Crimea is and will be an absolute priority for both domestic and foreign policy of Ukraine. Those who expect that the aggression in Donbass forces us to forget about Crimea are deeply mistaken. We will use all possible international legal mechanisms to make the aggressor pay a high price for these actions as well as to return Crimea under the control of Ukraine."

SOUNDBITE (English) Yuriy Sergeyev, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations:
"I would like to stress that this is not about recognition of the self-proclaimed illegal structures such as the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republic, nor it demonstrates a move towards federalization. The decentralization of power in the true context of the protocol means special status for certain regions of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in terms of economic, linguistic and cultural freedoms as well as establishment of preconditions for further local and parliamentary elections."

SOUNDBITE (English) Yuriy Sergeyev, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations:
"Russia is direct party to the protocol and it means that Moscow fully shares responsibility for proper implementation of the protocol. The protocol doesn't mention the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, although representatives of those organizations participated in trilateral consultations and signed the protocol as private individuals. The signing of this protocol doesn't mean legitimizing those terrorist organizations."

SOUNDBITE (English) Yuriy Sergeyev, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations:
"We are able to resist and we know how to resist. What we need from the West is sophisticated counterattack weaponry because we are being attacked by this sophisticated weaponry from the Russian side."

DURATION: 02:19