Experts warn of international law breach in recognising Russian sovereignty over Crimea As Donald Trump piled the pressure on Volodymyr Zelenskyy to agree to his peace plan - which includes recognising Russian sovereignty over annexed Crimea - experts have warned of an international law breach in a Ukrainian newspaper. Russia took over Crimea in 2014 but Ukraine has always maintained it as part of its territory, with most of the international community refusing to recognise Russia's illegal seizure of the area. Formally recognising Russian sovereignty now "would be a clear violation of international law", Stefan Wolff, international security professor at the University of Birmingham, told the Kyiv Independent. "It is unlikely that a majority of Ukraine's remaining allies would follow suit, but other countries more closely aligned with Russia already might," he said. Meanwhile, security expert Aaron Gasch Burnett described the move as "surrender". He told the Kyiv Independent that leaving Crimea in Russia's hands would "open up a can of worms on all kinds of global conflicts". "Authoritarians will learn that all they really have to do is invade their neighbour, stick it out, and then eventually they'll be rewarded for it — that imperialism pays," he added.