Nice Mayor Considers Crimea a Part of Russia, Wants to Promote Friendship

The French Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi has reaffirmed that his city and Yalta, its sister city in Russia's Crimea, are close friends despite the "vicissitudes of life," Azur TV reported.

"Whatever happened in history, Nice and Yalta have always been close friends. This is also true today, when Crimea became one of Russia's republics. The signing of this letter of intent is an opportunity to strengthen Franco-Russian friendship between Nice and Russia," he observed.

Estrosi added that the two sister cities could cooperate in many areas, including culture, sport, science, tourism, education and environment protection.
Estrosi's Russian counterpart shared the sentiment.

"Keeping in mind the current complex environment, the signing of the letter of intent between our two cities should serve as an example of friendship between our countries; it should also establish relations between Russia and Europe," Andrey Rostenko, the mayor of Yalta, noted.

The Crimean Peninsula reunited with Russia in March 2014 following a referendum, which saw more than 96% of voters backing the move to secede from Ukraine. The initiative came after Ukraine's legitimate president, Viktor Yanukovych, was ousted in a foreign-sponsored coup.