The head of the German navy, Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schonbach, expressed his belief that Crimea would never return to Ukraine despite Kiev's attempts to put pressure on Moscow.
"The Crimea does not exist, and it will never come back," Schonbach said at a conference hosted by India's Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses on Friday.
Speaking of the countries that want to be part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the vice-admiral noted that Georgia meets the criteria for joining the alliance, but its membership would be "illogical," given the consequences it may have in relations with Moscow.
In this regard, Schonbach said that India and Germany need Russia to confront the growing influence of China.
Crimea became a part of Russia in a referendum held in March 2014 in which near 96% of Crimeans voted for joining Russia. Kiev considers Crimea to be a Ukrainian territory illegally occupied by Russia. Moscow has repeatedly stated that the decision made by the Crimean people was made in full compliance with international law and the UN Charter. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Crimean issue is "finally closed." (ANI/Sputnik)
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor