Biden says US won't accept Russia's Crimea annexation
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Biden's statement came on Friday -- on the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Crimea.
US President Joe Biden has said the United States would "never" accept Russia's annexation of part of Ukraine -- which happened seven years ago.
Biden's statement came on Friday -- on the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Crimea.
"The United States does not and will never recognise Russia's purported annexation of the peninsula, and we will stand with Ukraine against Russia's aggressive acts," he said.
"The United States continues to stand with Ukraine and its allies and partners today, as it has from the beginning of this conflict. On this somber anniversary, we reaffirm a simple truth: Crimea is Ukraine," he added.
Russian troops seized the Crimean peninsula on the Black Sea coast of Ukraine in 2014 and President Vladimir Putin then incorporated the region under Moscow's rule.
At the same time, the Kremlin backed an armed uprising in eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian separatists declared independence, sparking a war that continues to simmer, with swaths of territory remaining out of the Ukrainian government's control.
The latest casualties -- in the latest fighting -- came as Kiev accused Moscow and the separatists of ramping up attacks in violation of a ceasefire agreed in July, 2020.