Ukrainian Lawmaker Lyashko Proposes To Relocate Embassy From Tel Aviv To Jerusalem

Ukraine's Radical Party has prepared a draft parliamentary resolution demanding that President Petro Poroshenko order the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel to be transferred from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in connection with unconfirmed reports that Palestine is allegedly ready to recognize Crimea as Russian territory, party leader Oleh Lyashko said on Thursday.

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th September, 2018) Ukraine's Radical Party has prepared a draft parliamentary resolution demanding that President Petro Poroshenko order the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel to be transferred from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in connection with unconfirmed reports that Palestine is allegedly ready to recognize Crimea as Russian territory, party leader Oleh Lyashko said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Palestinian Ambassador in Russia Abdel Hafiz Nofal told the Izvestia newspaper that the Palestinian leadership supported Russia in the matter regarding the legitimacy of the 2014 Crimean referendum. The ambassador did not rule out that Ramallah may officially recognize Crimea as part of Russia after relevant consultations. However, the ambassador later refuted these remarks.

"Yesterday, the Palestinian ambassador made a statement that Palestine was going to recognize Crimea as Russian territory.

That is why, taking this into account, I am signing the draft resolution of the Verkhovna Rada to appeal to the president of Ukraine about relocating the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem," Lyashko told reporters.

The issue of recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel came into the media and political spotlight across the world after the United States moved its own embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the holy city. The decision was announced by US President Donald Trump in December and implemented in May.

Crimea rejoined Russia in 2014 after 97 percent of the peninsula's residents voted in favor of the move in a referendum. The reunification was not recognized by Ukraine or Western states, which subsequently imposed economic and political sanctions on Moscow. Russia has repeatedly stated that the referendum was conducted in compliance with international law.