SIMFEROPOL (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, speaker of the People's Council of Syria, the country's legislative authority, Hadiya Khalaf Abbas, told Sputnik Damascus considered Crimea an integral part of Russia.
"Our position is absolutely logical and the fact that the Syrian parliament has heard us is only the beginning of the process," Konstantinov told reporters.
Russia's historical southern region of Crimea rejoined the country after a 2014 referendum. Almost 97 percent of the region's population voted for reunification in a referendum. Sevastopol, which has a federal city status, supported the move by 95.6 percent of votes.
The Western countries, including the EU members, have not recognized the legitimacy of the Crimean vote, imposing several rounds of sanctions on Russia over what they consider to be an "annexation."