Crimea de facto part of Russia: Belarus president

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says his country has accepted that Crimea is now a “de facto” part of Russia.

“You can recognize it, or not recognize it. It doesn’t change anything,” Lukashenko told reporters in Minsk on Sunday.

He, however, criticized the incorporation of the strategic Black Sea peninsula of Crimea into the Russian Federation, saying it set a “bad precedent”.

“Crimea is not dangerous because it has become part of Russia, but … a bad precedent has been created,” the Belarusian president added.

Lukashenko added that Ukraine should remain “a single, indivisible, integral, non-bloc state”.

On March 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law the documents officially making Crimea part of the Russian territory. Putin also signed legislation creating two new Russian administrative districts — Crimea and the port city of Sevastopol.

Earlier, Russia’s upper and lower houses of parliament had overwhelmingly put their stamp at the incorporation of the Ukrainian breakaway region of Crimea into the Russian Federation.

Crimea declared independence from Ukraine on March 17 and formally applied to become part of Russia following a referendum, in which 96.8 percent of Crimean residents voted in favor of the secession.