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Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters Wednesday during a weekly news conference: "We're not returning our territory. Crimea is part of the Russian Federation."

Spicer pointed to UN Ambassador Nikki Haley's recent remarks on Russia's actions in east Ukraine and occupation of Crimea, adding that Trump "expects the Russian government to de-escalate violence in the Ukraine and return Crimea."

The Bonn summit will be Tillerson's inaugural international trip as the United States' top diplomat. He'll be joined in Bonn by Lavrov, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and representatives from the world's other major economies.

"He's not going into Ukraine, OK, just so you understand. He's not going to go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down. You can put it down. You can take it anywhere you want," Trump said in a July interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on "This Week."

In the weeks before and after his inauguration, Trump's refusal to condemn Russian hacking during the election and his attacks on the intelligence community for investigating those hacks raised questions about his ties to Moscow.

Since assuming office the Trump administration has taken a much harder line on the occupation of the western part of Ukraine, a partner of NATO.

"The United States continues to condemn and call for an immediate end to the Russian occupation of Crimea," Haley said.

"Crimea is a part of Ukraine. Our Crimea-related sanctions will remain in place until Russia returns control over the peninsula to Ukraine."

Correction: A previous version of this story inaccurately described Ukraine's relationship to NATO. Ukraine is a partner of the alliance.

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Russia: 'We're not returning our territory' Crimea to Ukraine ...