MOSCOW, April 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russian military personnel was behind the backs of Crimea’s self-defense during the open referendum and acted correctly and professionally.
Putin said Russia’s task was to create conditions for the free will of Crimeans and measures needed to be taken to avoid the development of events similar to what is occurring in southeastern Ukraine.
“Therefore, our military personnel was behind the backs of Crimea’s self-defense. They acted very correctly, decisively, and professionally. There was no other way for the referendum to be held openly, fairly and earnestly, and it was necessary to help the people express their opinion,” Putin said during a live Q&A session with the public on Thursday.
Crimea signed a re-unification deal with Russia on March 18, two days after an independence referendum in the Black Sea republic.
The referendum saw almost 97 percent of voters in the predominantly Russian peninsula back Crimea’s accession to Russia. President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on March 21 to ratify the accession treaties with Crimea and its port city of Sevastopol, which enjoys a special status within the region.
Although widely denounced by the West, the referendum in Crimea was fully compliant with international law and must be recognized as legitimate, according to the Russian Government.
Russia has many times stressed that its troops in Crimea were pre-agreed contingent that protected facilities of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. It said the strength of 25,000 troops was stipulated in a deal with Ukraine for the Black Sea Fleet deployment in Crimea and was not exceeded.
