MOSCOW. March 20 (Interfax) - The judicial process of admitting Sevastopol and Crimea to Russia will be finalized at the end of this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a meeting with the Foreign Ministry's representatives in the country's regions in Moscow on Thursday.
"Practical steps are now being taken to implement the treaty that was signed between the leaders of the Russian Federation, Crimea and the city of Sevastopol on the accession of these two new constituents to Russia," he said.
"Absolutely, our policies of protecting the interests of Russians, our compatriots, remain unchanged. The president reaffirmed this in his March 18 address. We will advocate their interests by political, diplomatic and judicial methods. We will insist that countries where our compatriots live respect their rights and freedoms in full," Lavrov said.