KIEV - Ukrainian acting president Alexandr Turchynov here on Tuesday said that Kiev does not accept Crimea's integration into Russia.
"This is a very dangerous step, which has no legal significance for us," Turchynov said during a conference call at the country's Defense Ministry.
Turchynov described the treaty under which Crimea is becoming part of Russia as a "provocation" and an "attempt to annex the Ukrainian territory" and urged the international community not to recognize the deal.
Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty with the leaders of Crimea to accept the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol as part of the Russian territory.
The agreement follows Monday's decision of the Crimean parliament to declare independence from Ukraine after official results from the referendum on March 16 showed 96.77 percent of Crimean voters chose to join Russia.
Kiev did not accept the treaty under which Russia incorporated the "self-proclaimed" Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol as part of its territory, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
"We do not recognize and we will never recognize the so-called Crimean independence and the so-called joining of Crimea to Russia," Foreign Ministry spokesman Eugene Perebiynis told reporters.
The spokesman said the Ukrainian side regarded the annexation of Crimea as an attempt by the Kremlin to "revive Russian imperialism."
