Putin 'Would Take Same Decisions About Crimea' Now as in 2014

Vladimir Putin would take the same steps concerning Crimea now, according to the Kremlin spokesman.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian President Vladimir Putin is keeping the situation around Crimea under personal control and would not change his decisions even if there was such an opportunity, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Sunday.

"He keeps the situation around Crimea under personal control and I am convinced that he would take the same steps and decisions [about Crimea] and would take the responsibility as he did [in 2014]," Peskov told the RBK media group.

According to the spokesman, Putin realizes that the integration processes could be done in a more effective way and more money from the budget could have been spent on the improvement of living standards.

On Saturday, Crimea celebrated the third anniversary of the reunification with Russia. The region rejoined Russia in March 2014 after the referendum held on March 16, with almost 97 percent of the residents having voted for the reunification. Ukraine still considers Crimea as an occupied territory.

In September, Putin said that the issue of Crimea's territorial belonging was historically closed.