Biden Says U.S. “Will Never Recognize Russia’s Purported Annexation” of Crimea

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Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 12:33 pm

On the seventh anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, a move that Ukraine and the global community largely consider a violation of international law, President Joe Biden condemned Russian aggression, saying the United States does not consider Russia’s intervention legitimate.

“The United States does not and will never recognize Russia’s purported annexation of the peninsula, and we will stand with Ukraine against Russia’s aggressive acts. We will continue to work to hold Russia accountable for its abuses and aggression in Ukraine,” he noted. “The United States still believes in the promise of Ukraine and we support all those working towards a peaceful, democratic, and prosperous future for their country.”

Biden’s statements represent a more aggressive stance against Russia. Biden’s predecessor, former president Donald Trump, was often criticized for an often deferential relationship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, whose government been at the center of disinformation efforts that impacted both the 2016 and 2020 general election cycles.

The Biden administration is preparing to order sanctions against Moscow for a major cyberattack that breached parts of the United States federal government. The Washington Post reported earlier this week that the Biden administration “is casting the SolarWinds operation, in which government agencies and private companies were hacked, as ‘indiscriminate’ and potentially ‘disruptive.'”

“That would allow officials to claim that the Russian hacking was not equivalent to the kind of espionage the United States also conducts and to sanction those responsible for the operation,” the outlet continued, noting that the United States has also condemned the country for poisoning anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny, who has since been imprisoned.