American demands that Russia withdraw its forces from Crimea are hypocritical and doomed to fail, a local politician has said, claiming that such a move would be the equivalent of the US pulling its soldiers out of Alaska.
Yefim Fiks, a member of the State Council of Crimea, told RIA Novosti on Friday that Washington would find it impossible to negotiate if it continues to demand that Russia move troops out of land that Moscow insists is a core part of its territory.
“I haven’t seen a more cynical, shameless, and impudent formulation of a question in my life,” he said. “First of all, I want to remind the Americans that dialogue is impossible if you don’t respect the point of view of your opponent. Second, Crimea is a constituent part of Russia. We would have the same success if we told the US to withdraw forces from Alaska, California, and other states.”
Fiks insisted that Washington needs to learn to negotiate with other countries respectfully and politely, and said, “then we could have a conversation with them, but for now, there’s nothing to discuss.”