Putin: Tense situation in Crimea linked to possible use of Russian troops gone
NOVO-OGARYOVO. March 4 (Interfax) - The tense situation in Crimea, in which the use of the armed forces was possible, is gone, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"The tense situation in Crimea with the possible use of the armed forces has simply expired. There was no such need," Putin told reporters in Novo-Ogaryovo on Tuesday.
Putin called the media's attention to the fact that not a single shot had been fired in Crimea and there have been no casualties. "What happened there was people came, blocked armed units and agreed on their obedience to the demands and the will of people populating that territory," Putin stressed.
"The only necessity that existed and the only thing that we did was to reinforce the security of our military facilities, which had been constantly threatened. We saw that militants from nationalist organizations had started coming to Crimea," Putin said.
"We did that and we did that correctly and in due time," the Russian president stressed.
