The United States believes that Russian military facilities on the territory of occupied Crimea are legitimate targets for strikes by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Victoria Nuland, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs said this on February 16 during an online discussion of the Carnegie Foundation, Ukrinform reports.

The US recognizes Crimea as a territory of Ukraine, which Russia has turned into a huge military base, and does not object to the decisions of the Ukrainian side to attack Russian military facilities on the occupied peninsula.

“I will not prejudge where the Ukrainians will decide to fight or what decision they will make regarding Crimea in the short, medium or long term, but we recognize that Crimea is Ukraine,” Nuland noted.

She recalled that immediately after the occupation of the Ukrainian peninsula, the Russian authorities resorted to massive violations of human rights, persecution of Crimean Tatars and other people who did not agree with the occupation.

In addition, Russia turned Crimea into a large military base, which was used for a full-scale offensive on the rest of Ukraine.

Therefore, according to Victoria Nuland, the military facilities of the Russian Federation on the territory of the peninsula should be considered legitimate targets for strikes by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The US Under Secretary of State noted that Ukraine would not have security if Crimea was not at least demilitarized.

In January of this year, the American newspaper The New York Times reported that the Biden Administration was considering providing Ukraine with the necessary weapons to target Russian military bases in occupied Crimea.

Several officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the publication that after months of discussions with Ukrainian officials, the Biden administration was starting to recognize that Ukraine might need weapons to strike Russian invaders in Crimea, even if such a move would increase the risk of “escalation”.

The publication claimed that the Biden Administration concluded that if the Ukrainian military could show Russia that its control of Crimea might be at risk, it would strengthen Kyiv’s position in any future negotiations.

In addition, fears that Russia would respond by using tactical nuclear weapons have faded, although the risk still remains.