OREANDA-NEWS. Former US Department of State employee Dennis Ortblad believes Washington should recognize Crimea as part of Russia to improve relations with Moscow. He expressed his opinion in an article published on Tuesday in The National Interest magazine.

Ortblad notes that before the United States used sanctions to force the opponent to compromise, however, in the case of the Russian Federation and Crimea, they do not have the desired effect. He points out that Washington should reconsider its sanctions policy, and for this it is necessary to recognize that the peninsula will remain part of Russian territory. The ex-diplomat argues his position with the fact that the population of Crimea is predominantly Russian-speaking and associates itself with Russia and its history.

According to Ortblad, in order to improve relations with Moscow, Washington also needs to reconsider the role of NATO, in particular, the issue of advancing the alliance to the Russian borders, and resume arms control negotiations. As a third area of ​​activity, he offers to develop contacts between young people and establish student exchanges.