White House spokeswoman Sarah Hakabi Sanders said that the United States and Russia "agreed to maintain disagreement" over the Russian annexation of the Crimea. The statement came a few days after President Trump refused to exclude the recognition of this controversial move. "We do not recognize the Russian attempt to annex Crimea. We agreed to maintain disagreements with Russia in this direction, and our sanctions against Russia, imposed in connection with the Crimea, will remain in force until it returns the peninsula to Ukraine, "said Sanders. A White House spokeswoman tried to stop the speculation that Trump might agree to recognize the seizure of Crimea by Moscow during a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 16. At the same time, she did not rule out such a decision completely. Last Friday, Trump admitted the possibility of recognizing Russia's claims to the peninsula, saying to reporters: "Let's see". White House national security adviser John Bolton on Sunday gave a similar answer about the words of Trump. When the lead of the program "Face to the Nation" on the CBS News channel, Margaret Brennan asked Bolton, does the US support the idea that countries can use force to reshape borders, he replied that "this is not a US position". Nevertheless, when asked if the question of recognizing the Crimea could be discussed at the talks, Bolton followed Trump: "Let's see". The Russian annexation of Crimea as a result of military intervention in Ukraine in 2014 caused the condemnation of the international community. After this, the US and the EU imposed sanctions against Moscow. Russia was also excluded from the G8. Moscow claimed that it has legal rights to this territory, since many Crimean residents speak Russian. According to some reports, Trump repeated this argument at a closed meeting of G-7 leaders in Canada in June. Recognition of the annexation of Crimea will almost certainly lead to wide criticism of Trump, which has already drawn close attention to the special prosecutor Robert Mueller, who is investigating the possible links of Trump's campaign headquarters with Russia in order to interfere in the election process in 2016.

Earlier on Monday, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that for Moscow the question of recognizing the Crimea as a Russian territory on the agenda of discussions in the international arena can not be. "The Russian president has repeatedly stated and explained to his interlocutors that there can not be and never will be an issue on the agenda of the Crimea, as Crimea is an integral part of Russia. All other issues are questions of consensus, questions for discussion and for finding possible points of contact, "said Peskov. Source: Voice of America.