Ukraine won’t give up Crimea but it will do all in its power to resolve the crisis there peacefully.<br /><br />That is the message from acting foreign minister Andriy Deshchytsia as the region prepares for a referendum on joining Russia following a pro-Russian takeover there.<br /><br />“Crimea was and will remain Ukrainian territory,” Deshchytsia told a news conference in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv. <br /><br />“We are not giving Crimea to anyone. We will do everything possible to secure the territorial integrity of Ukraine and its borders.”<br /><br />But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insists that interim authorities in Kyiv are taking orders from extremists. <br /><br />He says, however, that Moscow is open to further talks with the West, if the right conditions are met. <br /><br />“We are ready to pursue dialogue if we have the assurance that it will be an honest dialogue between equal partners and without attempts to portray us as a party to the conflict,” Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow.<br /><br />Russia has warned the West over punitive measures, <br />pledging to retaliate over an EU decision to freeze talks on visa-free travel, for instance. <br /><br />As for Washington, Moscow says imposing sanctions on Russia will boomerang back on the United States.
