Ukraine criticizes Obama's comments on Crimea.

Ukraine criticized Obama for suggesting that a segment of the Crimean population agreed with the view that Russia represented them when Moscow annexed the peninsula.

In an interview with CNN on June 22, former US President Barack Obama said that Russia did not take military action against Crimea in 2014 because many people on the peninsula spoke Russian and "some agreed" with the view that Moscow "represented their interests."

The former US president also argued that he and then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel should have urged European countries to impose sanctions on Russia to prevent President Vladimir Putin from acting in the Donbass region and the whole of Ukraine.

Former US President Barack Obama speaks at an event in Athens, Greece on June 23. Photo: AFP

Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to the Ukrainian president, criticized Obama's statement on June 23.

"If Barack Obama publicly declared that Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 was 'legal and justified,' then we shouldn't be surprised that Europe is witnessing a major war that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands," Podolyak wrote on Twitter.

Podolyak also argued that it was unsurprising that international law "does not actually exist" based on Obama's statements, and claimed that the current Russian government is a reflection of "Western policy" before the conflict.

"Perhaps it's time to start admitting serious mistakes instead of offering new excuses?", Podolyak concluded.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov welcomed the former US president's remarks.

"Occasionally in America you find people who think so rationally," Peskov told reporters. "There is indeed a large enough group of politicians who support the idea of ​​developing good relations with Russia and who have spoken out against imposing anti-Russian sentiment."

However, the Kremlin spokesperson emphasized that it was not a segment of the Crimean population that supported Russia, as Obama claimed, "but in fact, all Crimeans want to become part of the Russian Federation."

Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula following a referendum in March 2014. The US, the West, and Ukraine called the move illegal. Kyiv has repeatedly stated its intention to reclaim the peninsula, including by force.

Huyen Le (According to Anadolu , RT, Politico )

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