“In the 21st century, nations cannot; and we cannot allow them to redraw borders by force. These are the ground rules. And if we fail to uphold them, we will rue the day. Russia has violated these ground rules and continues to violate them. Today Russia is occupying sovereign Ukrainian territory. Let me be crystal clear: The United States does not, will not, never will recognize Russia’s attempt to annex the Crimea. (Applause.) It’s that saying -- that simple. There is no justification.”

— Joe Biden

Remarks by Vice President Joe Biden to The Ukrainian Rada https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/12/09/remarks-vice-president-joe-biden-ukrainian-rada (9 December 2015).
2010s

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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47th Vice President of the United States (in office from 20… 1942

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“We work very closely together on the issue of annexation of Crimea and Russia’s attempt to actually conquer Ukraine. And actually they did so -- conquered part of the territory. We tried to come to a peaceful settlement here on this.”

Angela Merkel (1954) Chancellor of Germany

2016, Joint press conference of 17 November 2016

“We stand together because we believe that upholding peace and security is the responsibility of every nation. The days of empire and spheres of influence are over. Bigger nations must not be allowed to bully the small, or impose their will at the barrel of a gun or with masked men taking over buildings. And the stroke of a pen can never legitimize the theft of a neighbor’s land. So we will not accept Russia’s occupation of Crimea or its violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty. Our free nations will stand united so that further Russian provocations will only mean more isolation and costs for Russia. Because after investing so much blood and treasure to bring Europe together, how can we allow the dark tactics of the 20th century to define this new century?”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

2014, 25th Anniversary of Polish Freedom Day Speech (June 2014)

“Georgia, like Ukraine and Moldova, is a sovereign state. If we accept, in practice, that Russia can alter borders by force, we signal to Moscow that it can violate international norms with impunity. We can hardly then complain if the Kremlin meddles in American elections, or orders murders on British soil.”

Daniel Hannan (1971) British politician

2010s, Russian aggression (2018)

“Crimea is not a disputed territory. There has been no ethnic conflict there, unlike the conflict between South Ossetia and Georgia. Russia has long recognized the borders of modern-day Ukraine. On the whole, we have completed our talks on borders. The issue of demarcation still stands, but this is just a technicality.”

Vladimir Putin (1952) President of Russia, former Prime Minister

Крым не является никакой спорной территорией. Там не было никакого этнического конфликта, в отличие от конфликта между Южной Осетией и Грузией. И Россия давно признала границы сегодняшней Украины. Мы, по сути, закончили в общем и целом наши переговоры по границе. Речь идет о демаркации, но это уже технические дела.
Interview with ARD Television http://www.businessinsider.com/putin-in-2008-crimea-is-not-disputed-territory-and-is-part-of-ukraine-2015-4, Germany, in Sochi, Russia, August 29, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080912164721/http://www.government.ru:80/content/governmentactivity/mainnews/archive/2008/08/29/2344019.htm
On Ukraine

“If certain acts of violation of treaties are crimes, they are crimes whether the United States does them or whether Germany does them, and we are not prepared to lay down a rule of criminal conduct against others which we would not be willing to have invoked against us.”

Robert H. Jackson (1892–1954) American judge

International Conference on Military Trials, London, 1945, Dept. of State Pub.No. 3080 (1949), p. 330
Quotes from the Nuremberg Trials (1945-1946)

“We must stand united in our support of other young democracies, from the people of Lebanon struggling to maintain their hard-won independence, to the people of the Palestinian Territories, who deserve a free and peaceful state of their own. We must stand united in our support of the people of Georgia. The United Nations Charter sets forth the equal rights of nations large and small. Russia's invasion of Georgia was a violation of those words. Young democracies around the world are watching to see how we respond to this test. The United States has worked with allies in multilateral institutions like the European Union and NATO to uphold Georgia's territorial integrity and provide humanitarian relief. And our nations will continue to support Georgia's democracy.”

George W. Bush (1946) 43rd President of the United States

2000s, 2008, Address to the United Nations General Assembly (September 2008)

“…it [is] possible to suppose that, if Russia is allowed to have peace, an amazing industrial development may take place, making Russia a rival of the United States.”

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist

Part I, Ch. 5: Communism and the Soviet Constitution
1920s, The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism (1920)

“The recognition of Russia on November 16, 1933, started forces which were to have considerable influence in the attempt to collectivize the United States.”

Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) 31st President of the United States of America

Source: The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover: The Great Depression, 1929-1941 (1952), p. 484

“The way that Russia seized Crimea by force from Ukraine this March was hostile and extremely illegal”

Max Fisher American journalist

Source: Max Fisher, "So should Crimea be part of Russia or Ukraine?" http://www.vox.com/cards/ukraine-everything-you-need-to-know/so-should-crimea-be-part-of-russia-or-ukraine (3 September 2014), Vox
Context: The way that Russia seized Crimea by force from Ukraine this March was hostile and extremely illegal... A poll found that 41 percent of Crimeans wanted the region to become part of Russia. That's an awful lot; but it's still not a majority. Crimea's March referendum on leaving Ukraine for Russia ostensibly garnered 97 percent support, but it occurred in a rush, without international monitors, and under Russian military occupation. A draft U. N. investigative report found that critics of secession within Crimea were detained and tortured in the days before the vote; it also found 'many reports of vote-rigging'. Had the referendum been held in a transparent and legal manner, it's not clear which way the vote would have gone.

“Today, however, Russia and China are united as autocracies. They do have this ideological connection. Both countries have tense relations with the United States and the liberal democratic world, and that brings them together.”

Michael McFaul (1963) American academic and diplomat

"Toward a “Grander Strategy of Containing Putin’s Russia”: Ambassador Michael McFaul on Engagement and Containment in a New Era of Great Power Competition" in The Yale Review of International Studies http://yris.yira.org/comments/5314 (June 2021)

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