News / Brèves Back to previous selection / Retour à la sélection précédente Putin Celebrates Russia Day, Talks with Poroshenko 12 June 2014 (LPAC)—Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered brief remarks at the annual celebration in Moscow of Russia Day on Thursday. He concluded by specially noting the recent events in Crimea: ``This year we are celebrating our national holiday in especially lifted spirits. Crimea and Sevastopol have returned to Russia, to their Motherland. This historic reunion was peaceful, it happened at the will of the people and in full compliance with international law. What is especially important is that this was fair, and this was `for real,’ as they say.’’ Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko had a brief telephone conversation with Putin in which he congratulated the Russian President on Russia Day. According to the brief note on the Kremlin website, the two men discussed a peaceful resolution of the crisis in southeast Ukraine. However, Poroshenko also claimed that three Russian tanks had crossed into Ukrainian territory, although no proof of these claims has been presented. Poroshenko called an emergency cabinet meeting and placed calls to Merkel and Biden, in addition to his call to Putin. [Jeff Steinberg] See also: Ukraine at the crossroads / L’Ukraine à la croisée des chemins