In Nevzalezhnoye, at the invitation of the local Ministry of Defense, an inspection team arrived, which included servicemen from the United States, Canada and Denmark, in order to monitor the military-political situation. The visit, which started on Monday, November 13, is held in accordance with the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE). It is announced that inspectors will visit military units and units in the conflict zone in Donbass. "In addition, the American side included the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in the inspection area, which is another evidence of non-recognition of the US annexation of the peninsula by the Russian Federation," the Ukrainian military department said.. On the Russian side, such opuses cause, to put it mildly, bewilderment.
Since the Crimea is under Russian control, NATO representatives by definition can not arrive there at the invitation of Ukrainians. "The statements of Kiev that American inspectors wanted to visit the Crimea can only cause healthy laughter and humorous glance of Russian border guards," the political scientist and media consultant Alexander Zimovsky told Zvezda.. At the same time, Western observers have an absolutely legitimate way to visit the Crimea. "In accordance with the provisions contained in the Vienna Document, each participating State has the right to conduct inspections on the territory of any other participating State in the zone of application of confidence- and security-building measures. The inspecting State may invite other participating States to participate in the inspection. At the beginning of the year, for example, Ukrainian inspectors sent a relevant request to the Russian side and received permission to conduct an inspection in the Rostov region. There are no obstacles here, "- said the expert. However, in the case of the Crimea, there were no such applications to Moscow. If they were, the Russian authorities would consider a theoretical opportunity to show the peninsula to foreign guests. To promise to foreign inspectors a trip to Crimea without an agreement with the Russian Federation is absolutely pointless even from the point of view of the Ukrainian legislation. "There is not a single Ukrainian object (military unit) in the Crimea that would fit the CFE articles and the Vienna Document of 2001.
Simply no. Ukraine threw them, and Ukrainian technology from the territory of the Russian Crimea withdrew (without any obstacles from Russia, mind you). According to official data of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the last Ukrainian soldier left the Crimea in May 2014. Therefore, any further international inspections of parts of the Southern Military District of Russia are possible only upon agreement with the Russian Federation. I am sure that all the states-participants of the CFE Treaty are aware of this through official channels, "concluded Zimovsky.
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister of Crimea Dmitry Polonsky called the statement of the Ukrainian authorities on the visit of inspectors from the United States "a sick fantasy".
"Crimea is a region of military valor only one army - Russian.
Therefore, Crimea was and will be a republic within the Russian Federation, which is under the protection of military armies exclusively of Russia. Therefore, visits to the Crimea of ??some foreign military inspectors or inspectors, they are simply impossible. Only our friends can come to Crimea, and then by invitation. Without an invitation, we are not waiting for anyone here, "the Crimean official added..