Podolyak about Chinese ambassador’s statement: It is strange to hear absurd version of ‘history of Crimea’

Advisor to the Head of the Ukrainian President’s Office Mykhailo Podolyak has emphasized that all post-Soviet countries, except Russia, have a clear sovereign status.

He said this in a tweet, commenting on the recent statement by China’s Ambassador to France Lu Shaye, who questioned the sovereignty of former Soviet countries, Ukrinform reports.

“All post-Soviet Union countries have a clear sovereign status enshrined in international law. Except for Russia, which fraudulently took a seat in the UN Security Council,” Podolyak noted.

According to him, it is also “strange to hear an absurd version of the "history of Crimea" from a representative of a country that is scrupulous about its thousand-year history.”

“If you want to be a major political player, do not parrot the propaganda of Russian outsiders,” the adviser to the President’s Office head said.

As reported by Ukrinform, China’s Ambassador to France Lu Shaye questioned the sovereignty of former Soviet republics, including Ukraine. He also mentioned Russian-occupied Crimea, noting that “it depends how you perceive the problem” and added that everything is not so simple and that the peninsula was “originally part of Russia”.

Following these statements, the official representative of China was severely criticized. In particular, Ukraine’s Ambassador to France Vadym Omelchenko suggested that Lu Shaye has problems with geography and reminded that such statements contradict China's official position.

The Baltic countries announced their intention to summon representatives of the People's Republic of China to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs following the statements by the Chinese ambassador to France.