DISINFO: The US ordered Ukraine to launch strikes on Crimea
SUMMARY
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has ordered Ukraine to hit Crimea.
RESPONSE
The claim advances a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative concerning Russia's illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
On 21 May 2023, the US national security adviser told CNN:
“We have not placed limitations on Ukraine being able to strike on its territory within its internationally recognized borders. What we have said is that we will not enable Ukraine with U.S. systems, Western systems, to attack Russia. And we believe Crimea is Ukraine.”
This statement is in line with the overwhelming international consensus on the status of Crimea as sovereign Ukrainian territory.
In 2014, Russian troops obliged the parliament of Crimea to organise a so-called referendum, which was illegitimate under international law, and then formally annexed the peninsula and brought it under Russian territorial control.
No international body recognises the so-called referendum in 2014. The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution entitled “Territorial integrity of Ukraine”, stating that the referendum in Crimea was not valid and could not serve as a basis for any change in the status of the peninsula. On 17 December 2018, the UN General Assembly confirmed its non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea.
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