Putin calls for recognition of Crimea as Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Tuesday for international recognition of Crimea as part of Russia, an end to Ukraine's NATO membership bid and a halt to weapons shipments there. Putin claimed that Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula should be internationally recognised as a legitimate reflection of the local population's choice, likening it to a vote for Kosovo independence. The annexation has been widely condemned by Western powers as a breach of international law.

To end the current crisis, he also called for the renunciation of Ukraine's NATO bid, saying it should assume a "neutral status," and said that the West should stop sending weapons there.