Ukraine refused to accept the treaty under which Russia annexed the "self-proclaimed" Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol as part of its territory, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

"We do not recognize and we will never recognize the so-called Crimean independence and the so-called joining of Crimea to Russia," Foreign Ministry spokesman Eugene Perebiynis told reporters.

Perebiynis dismissed the deal signed by Russian (RSX, quote) and Crimean leaders as illegal, calling on the international community to "take effective measures against the Russian aggression."

He said the Ukrainian side regarded the annexation of Crimea as an attempt by the Kremlin to "revive Russian imperialism."

And on the same day the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called on the international community not to recognize the independence of Crimea.

"The independence of Crimea was declared by the illegitimate authority as a result of the unconstitutional referendum conducted with flagrant violations of common European norms and standards for referenda," the ministry said in a statement.

It also expressed a "strong and categorical protest" against Russia's recognition of Crimea.

Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Crimean leaders signed a treaty to make the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol part of Russian territory.

The treaty came one day after the Crimean parliament's decision to declare independence from Ukraine, with official results from a referendum showing 96.77 percent of Crimean voters chose to join Russia.

Residents in the Crimean cities of Simferopol and Sevastopol on Tuesday celebrated an accession treaty signed by leaders of the peninsula and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Many people gathered at Lenin Square in central Simferopol and watched the live television broadcast from Moscow, where Putin addressed a joint session of the Russian parliament, before signing the treaty with Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksenov, parliament Speaker Vladimir Konstantinov and Sevastopol Mayor Aleksei Chaliy.

On Tuesday, in the Russian Far East city of Vladivostok, more than 6,000 people rallied on the seashore square next to the monument of a World War II submarine at 18:00 local time (1300 GMT) to support Crimea's accession to Russia.

Old soldiers, college students, and representatives from social organizations sang the Russian national anthem and waved banners reading "Crimea, we are with you!" "Welcome home, Crimea" at the rally.

Content Curiosity of China.org.cn