Dr. Celeste Wallander, the US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, stated that the US government has no issues with Ukrainian strikes against targets on Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, which Washington considers to be a part of Ukraine, at a gathering at the Center for a New American Security in Washington.
When asked if Washington supported Ukraine’s’return of Crimea’ or the Ukrainian strikes on Russian targets on the peninsula with weapons supplied to Kiev by the West, she responded, “Ukraine has the right to defend every inch of its territory as you know, we [the US] don’t have objections and do not seek to limit Ukrainian sovereignty.
On March 16, 2004, the authorities of Crimea and Sevastopol held a referendum on joining Russia against the backdrop of a coup in Ukraine. With almost 80% of eligible voters participating, reunification with Russia received 96.7% and 95.6% of the votes cast, respectively. The agreement to admit the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol to the Russian Federation was signed by the Russian President on March 18, 2014, and the Federal Assembly ratified it on March 21. Despite the referendum’s conclusive results, Kiev refused to acknowledge Crimea as a part of Russia.
