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Top EU Officials: Crimea Secession Vote Won't Be Recognized

ReutersMar 16, 2014, 22:09 IST

REUTERS/Baz Ratner A man enters a voting booth during the referendum on the status of Ukraine's Crimea region at a polling station in Sevastopol March 16, 2014.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The secession referendum in Ukraine's Crimea is illegal and illegitimate and its outcome will not be recognized, The European Union's top officials said in a joint statement on Sunday.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuyalso called on Russia to withdraw its armed forces to their pre-crisis numbers and to usual areas of deployment.

EU foreign ministers will decide on possible measures at a meeting in Brussels on Monday.

(Reporting by Luke Baker and Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)