Moscow is not occupying any Ukrainian territories, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that he is ready to explain this to any Ukrainian citizen.
The Russian presidential spokesman responded to a request to comment on a statement by Ukrainian presidential campaign frontrunner Vladimir Zelensky about his intention to demand the return of territories and compensation payment from Russia.
"We are ready to explain to any Ukrainian citizen that Russia is not occupying any Ukrainian territories and generally there can be no talk about that," TASS cited Peskov as saying.
"Moreover, the word ‘occupation’ or ‘annexation’ is absolutely not applicable to Crimea either de facto or de jure. All that happened in Crimea was done in strict accordance with the Ukrainian legislation and on the basis of international law," Peskov stressed.
Zelensky earlier told journalists in his election headquarters that in case of his hypothetical meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin he intended to talk about the return of territories by Russia and the payment of compensations by Moscow.