18 Mar 2014 16:45

There was no intervention in Crimea - Putin

MOSCOW. March 18 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said there was no aggression or intervention in Crimea and thanked the Ukrainian troops stationed in Crimea for not provoking a military conflict.

"I want to thank those Ukrainian servicemen - and there are many of them, 22,000 people with weapons - who did not commit bloodshed," Putin said in his address to the Federal Assembly.

"They are telling us about some Russian intervention in Crimea, some aggression. It's strange to hear that. I don't recall any cases in history when intervention took place without a single shot and without casualties," Putin said.