Paris (IP) - China’s ambassador to France said that former Soviet countries have no ‘effective status’ in international law.

Iran PressEurope: Lu Shaye, China’s Ambassador to France, said in an interview on Friday with French television network LCI that former Soviet countries have no 'effective status' in international law.

Asked whether Crimea belongs to Ukraine, Lu said that “it depends how you perceive the problem,” arguing that it was historically part of Russia and offered to Ukraine by former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

“In international law, even these ex-Soviet Union countries do not have the status, the effective [status] in international law, because there is no international agreement to materialize their status as a sovereign country,” he said.

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