Russia’s doing nothing wrong: ambassador

Russia has no qualms about being the sole defender of its actions in occupying part of Ukraine, the country’s ambassador to Canada said.

“It’s not between us and Ukraine or us and the West, so we don’t feel in any way guilty. So we’re not asking for any kind of help,” Georgiy Mamedov said Sunday in an interview on The West Block with Tom Clark.

And there’s no way the situation will escalate into full-blown war, the ambassador said.

“No chance, whatsoever, and you have our word for that,” he said, speaking to host Tom Clark, who was in Kyiv. “But it will be a period of serious tension. And the sooner Western countries will realize that this problem wasn’t caused by Russia, but by revolution, turmoil and chaos in Ukraine … the sooner the better.”

READ MORE: Russia reinforces military presence in Crimea

Canada, along with other Western states, has imposed sanctions on Russia. Canada has cut bilateral military activities with Russia and recalled its ambassador from Russia, and has threatened to expel Mamedov, too (although it hasn’t yet). The United States imposed visa restrictions on opponents of Ukraine’s government in Kyiv and paved the way for upcoming financial sanctions.

But that hasn’t shaken Russian President Vladimir Putin’s conviction that his military’s presence in Crimea, the former Soviet republic, is necessary.

If anything, Mamedov said, the sanctions will boomerang, negatively affecting Western countries.

READ MORE: Sanctions on Russia over Ukraine could backfire

Lawmakers in Crimea, meanwhile, voted unanimously to split from Ukraine and join Russia, and will hold a referendum March 16 to allow voters on the disputed peninsula to weigh in on the decision.

After the regional parliament in Crimea set the date for a referendum on leaving Ukraine, senior lawmakers in Moscow said they would support the move, ignoring threats of sanctions and warnings from U.S. President Barack Obama that the vote would violate international law.

READ MORE: Russian soldiers expelled from Canada

Prime Minister Stephen Harper also said Canada will not recognize the referendum, saying Crimea is under “illegal military occupation.”

Asked why the referendum is going ahead even though virtually every country has said it will not give the results any weight, Mamedov said the fact it’s happening is proof enough it should.

“I hope next time you will be able to get in touch with me from Sevastopol or Simferopol and you should ask them why they decided to have this referendum,” he said.

With files from The Associated Press