CIS

Home page

CIS

Ukraine recalls ambassador to Belarus over Crimea statement

24 March 2014 18:42 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Ukraine recalled its ambassador to Belarus for consultations on Monday over the Belarussian leadership's position on the crisis-hit Crimea, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"In view of the statement made by Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko on March 23, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has withdrawn the ambassador of Ukraine in the Republic of Belarus for consultations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Eugene Perebiynis told a press briefing.

Ukraine has also sent a diplomatic note to the Belarussian government, saying that Lukashenko's statement "is not conforming to the generally recognized rules of the international law," he said.

On Sunday, Lukashenko said Belarus accepted Crimea as de-facto part of Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Crimean leaders signed a treaty on March 18 to make the Crimean peninsula part of Russian territory following a referendum, during which around 97 percent of the Crimean voters backed splitting from Ukraine.