VietPress USA (Sept. 2nd, 2019): The Crimean Peninsula was annexed by the Russian Federation in February–March 2014 and since then has been administered as two Russian federal subjects—the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol. The annexation from Ukraine followed a Russian military intervention in Crimea that took place in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution and was part of wider unrest across southern and eastern Ukraine.

On 22–23 February 2014, Russian president Vladimir Putin convened an all-night meeting with security service chiefs to discuss the extrication of the deposed Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovych. At the end of the meeting Putin remarked that "we must start working on returning Crimea to Russia". On 23 February, pro-Russian demonstrations were held in the Crimean city of Sevastopol. On 27 February, masked Russian troops without insignia took over the Supreme Council (parliament) of Crimea, and captured strategic sites across Crimea, which led to the installation of the pro-Russian Aksyonov government in Crimea, the conducting of the Crimean status referendum and the declaration of Crimea's independence on 16 March 2014. Russia formally incorporated Crimea as two federal subjects of the Russian Federation with effect from 18 March 2014.

Ukraine and many world leaders condemned the annexation and consider it to be a violation of international law and Russian-signed agreements safeguarding the territorial integrity of Ukraine, including the Belavezha Accords establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States in 1991, the Helsinki Accords, the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances of 1994 and the Treaty on friendship, cooperation and partnership between the Russian Federation and Ukraine. It led to the other members of the then G8 suspending Russia from the group, then introducing the first round of sanctions against the country. The United Nations General Assembly also rejected the vote and annexation, adopting a non-binding resolution affirming the "territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders" The UN resolution also "underscores that the referendum having no validity, cannot form the basis for any alteration of the status of [Crimea]" and calls upon all States and international organizations not to recognize or to imply the recognition of Russia's annexation. In 2016, UN General Assembly reaffirmed non-recognition of the annexation and condemned "the temporary occupation of part of the territory of Ukraine—the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol".

The Russian Federation opposes the "annexation" label, with Putin defending the referendum as complying with the principle of self-determination of peoples. In July 2015, Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev said that Crimea had been fully integrated into Russia. (Wikipedia).

On August 27th, 2019, a source close to Deutsche Bank said that Donald Trump received Loans co-signed by Russian closed to Vladimir Putin (https://www.vietpressusa.us/2019/08/vietpress-usa-vb-ha 

During 2016 presidential election, Russia hacked Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton to support Donald Trump; but Trump denied not to collude with Russia. 

It's now at G7 summit, Donald Trump has proposed to reintegrate Russia into the elite G7 group, but Poland's President Andrzej Duda told reporters at a joint press conference with visiting US Vice President Mike Pence that "business as usual" was unacceptable given Moscow's occupation of Ukrainian territory.

At G7 summit last week in France, as Trump pushed for Moscow to be allowed back after its 2014 expulsion. Russia was kicked out of what was then the Group of Eight after it annexed Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, a move never recognized by the international community.

Donald Trump, who will host next year's G7 summit, said he would invite Russia to the event, a move supported by France but criticized by Britain and Germany. Poland is not a G7 member.

Read this news from AFP on Yahoo News at:

Poland's president on Monday opposed a proposal by US President Donald Trump to reintegrate Russia into the elite G7 group, insisting that "business as usual" was unacceptable given Moscow's occupation of Ukrainian territory.

"Should we have a business as usual approach towards Russia? ... I believe that we cannot under the current circumstances," President Andrzej Duda told reporters at a joint press conference with visiting US Vice President Mike Pence.

The reintegration of Russia into the G7 group of the world's rich nations divided leaders at its summit last week in France, as Trump pushed for Moscow to be allowed back after its 2014 expulsion.

Russia was kicked out of what was then the Group of Eight after it annexed Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, a move never recognized by the international community.

But Trump, who will host next year's G7 summit, said he would invite Russia to the event, a move supported by France but criticized by Britain and Germany. Poland is not a G7 member.

Speaking alongside Duda on Monday, Pence struck a different tone, insisting that it was crucial to "remain vigilant" towards Russia.

He accused Moscow of attempting to meddle in elections and use its oil and gas supplies to "divide our alliance", in an apparent reference to the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline set to send Russian gas to Germany.

Washington and Warsaw, among others, oppose the pipeline, fearing it will increase Europe's reliance on Russian energy supplies which Moscow could then use to exert political pressure.

Poland has long cultivated close ties with the US, which it regards as the primary guarantor of its security within the NATO alliance and as a bulwark against Russia, its Soviet-era master with whom tensions still run high.

Pence confirmed that the US and Poland would later Monday sign a joint declaration on digital infrastructure security.

"This declaration, we believe, will set a vital example for the rest of Europe on the broader question of 5G," he told reporters.

The US is pressing allies, with mixed success, to reject Chinese 5G technology, especially from the giant mobile phone company Hjanuawei.

Washington fears that Huawei will provide Beijing with a way to spy on communications from the countries that use its products and services.

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