Navalny: Crimea will remain Russian

The leader of the Party of Progress Alexei Navalny assured that if he became president, he would not return the occupied Crimea to Ukraine. “Crimea is that, a sandwich with sausage, or something? Its back and forth ...” he said in an interview with the editor -in -chief of the Echo of Moscow, Alexei Venediktov.

To the direct question of Venediktov "Our Crimea?" Navalny replied that "Crimea of ​​those people who live in Crimea." The interviewer, however, began to insist on a certain answer. Then the politician said: "I believe that, despite the fact that Crimea was captured with a flagrant violation of all international norms, the realities are such that Crimea is now part of the Russian Federation. And let's not deceive ourselves. And I also strongly advise Ukrainians not to deceive themselves."

Navalny expressed confidence that Crimea "will remain part of Russia and will never become part of Ukraine in the foreseeable future."

The leader of the Party of Progress has a reputation as a "moderate nationalist." He repeatedly visited Russian marches, and during his campaign in the Moscow Mayor’s elections, he actively exploited anti -migrant rhetoric.

Meanwhile, in mid -March, immediately after the annexation of Crimea, Navalny wrote for The New York Times the article “How to punish Putin”, in which he not only did not condemn the introduction of sanctions in connection with Russia's aggression, but proposed measures that, according to his statement, would be especially painful for the Kremlin.