U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has told lawmakers in Ukraine's parliament that "Russia is occupying sovereign Ukrainian territory" in Crimea and has violated international law by illegally annexing the Ukrainian peninsula, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.
In a much anticipated speech on December 8, Biden said that "the world is watching" them and their "fight against the unrelenting aggression of the Kremlin."
He said that "the United States will never recognize" Russia's annexation of Crimea, and will continue to support Ukraine against Russian aggression.
Biden told Ukrainian lawmakers that they had "an obligation to their homeland to answer the call of history" and build a united democratic nation that "stands through time."
He said each lawmaker will be judged by future generations upon whether they put the greater good of all Ukrainian people over local interests that have divided the country.
Biden's visit is his fourth to Kyiv since Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 and gave its backing to pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
