Opening the House of Moscow in Sevastopol, Crimea, last Wednesday, Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov said the Crimea's separation from Russia had "left a deep unhealed wound in the Russian people." He promised to continue helping the Russian naval base in the Crimea, which would involve cooperation with the entire peninsula.
"I don't understand what all the fuss is about," Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said, commenting on Luzhkov's words, which have outraged Ukrainian diplomats.
Karasin said Luzhkov's visit to the Crimea contributed to regional ties. "It is a positive signal for cooperation between our countries," he said.
The Crimean autonomy on the Black Sea, with a predominantly ethnic Russian population, had been Russian territory until Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev annexed it to Ukraine in 1954. The peninsula has since remained a Ukrainian autonomy but has resisted the West-leaning policy of the central authorities.
Ukraine's acting foreign minister, Volodymyr Ohryzko, said Luzhkov's statements had been interpreted as interference in Ukraine's domestic affairs and an attempt to undermine friendly bilateral relations. He said law-enforcement officers were looking into whether the comments complied with Ukrainian law.
"Yury Luzhkov allowed himself to publicly question the status of the Crimean peninsula," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's press service said.
