Media: US advised Kiev not to fight for the Crimea

Washington feared that the beginning of Ukraine’s hostilities in the Crimea could be the basis for a full-scale military intervention by Russia.

The US authorities in 2014, advised Kiev to refrain from coercive actions in the Crimea. This was reported by international journalists Josh Rogin and Eli Lake in a material published on the website Bloomberg. In the United States at this point, they took into account that the Ukrainian government was temporary, and believed that the Ukrainian army would not be able to resist the Russian special forces. Washington also feared that the outbreak of hostilities in the Crimea could have served as the basis for a full-scale military intervention by Russia.

Journalists' interlocutors in the Ukrainian and American leadership claim that Washington's recommendations were “advice, not orders.” According to sources, Kyiv received similar recommendations from the governments of a number of European countries. The material notes that now a number of experts and officials in the United States consider the previously given recommendations to be erroneous.

The White House declined to comment on US recommendations. A source in the presidential administration told reporters that Washington would put pressure on Russia until the full implementation of the Minsk agreements and the restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine.