US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on Russia to hand over Crimea to Ukraine. Only if this condition is met, America will lift sanctions against Moscow. According to him, the United States will never recognize the "Russian occupation" and demand that Moscow immediately withdraw its troops, RIA Novosti reports.. "We never recognize the Russian occupation and the attempted annexation of the Crimea. The sanctions related to Crimea will remain in force until Russia regains full control of Ukraine, "added the US Secretary of State. Rex Tillerson specifically stressed that Russia should follow Minsk relations. Moscow has repeatedly stated that the Russian army has never been in the Crimea and all such accusations are groundless, but this does not stop Europe and America from constantly blackmailing and imposing new sanctions.

Recall, the Crimea became part of Russia in March 2014. on the basis of a referendum. Almost 97% of the inhabitants of the peninsula voted for the republic's membership in the Russian Federation. In Sevastopol, 95.6% of citizens voted for joining Russia.

The referendum was held in response to the coup d'etat in Ukraine in February 2014. The new leadership of Nezalezhnaya does not recognize the referendum in Crimea as legitimate and considers the peninsula to be occupied by Russia.