KIEV, June 3 (RAPSI) – Acting Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk said at the Verkhovna Rada on Tuesday that Ukraine would sue Russia for 1 trillion hryvnias (about $90 billion) in profit shortfall due to the loss of Crimea.

Energy Minister Yuri Prodan earlier said that Ukraine assessed its losses in Crimea at hundreds of billions of dollars and would sue Russia for compensation. Billionaire Petro Poroshenko, who won the May 25 presidential election, said that Crimea was not part of Russia and that he would create a ministry whose sole purpose would be to ensure the return of Crimea on the basis of international documents.

Crimea, a largely Russian-speaking republic, was part of Russia until Khrushchev gave it to Ukraine in 1954. President Putin said in an address to federal and regional officials in March 2014 that the decision was made in clear violation of the constitutional standards of the time.

Crimea moved for independence from Ukraine after having refused to recognize the legitimacy of the new government that came to power following the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych in February.

On March 17, President Putin signed a decree recognizing Crimea as an independent state. The same day, Putin and the leaders of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol signed a treaty on the unification of Crimea with Russia.

Russian authorities said that the Crimean referendum and its reunification with Russia were fully in keeping with law. In particular, Putin said that the referendum in Crimea was fully consistent with the norms of international law and the UN Charter.

The Russian ambassador at the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, said that Ukraine’s possible lawsuit against Russia over Crimea had no prospects.