Crimean gold held in an Amsterdam museum since 2014 will be returned to Ukraine, not Russia, a court in the Netherlands has ruled. 

The "Scythian Gold" collection was loaned to the Allard Pierson Museum in 2014, before Moscow annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine, citing popular support from residents. 

The situation posed a problem for the museum, as Ukrainian officials argued the gold should be returned to Kyiv, Ukraine's capital. Museums in Crimea, however, said the collection should return to where it originated.

In 2016 the arguments were made in front of a judge in the Netherlands, who ruled in favor of the Ukrainian government. 

The judge ruled the treasures were part of Ukraine's cultural heritage and must be returned instead to Kyiv, adding that Crimea was not considered a sovereign state.

But the Crimean museums appealed the judgement, supported by the Russian state. 

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Judge Pauline Hofmeijer-Rutten said Tuesday the national culture interests of Ukraine outweighed those of the museums in Crimea.

"The Allard Pierson Museum is no longer obliged to return the pieces to the Crimean museums," she ruled. "The rights of the Ukrainian state, based on the [Ukrainian] Law of Museums... take precedence."

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcomed the ruling, and asserted the ruling would impact the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine. 

"I am convinced that just as we have returned the Scythian gold today, we will return our people and our temporarily occupied territories," Kuleba added, referring to Crimea and the Donbas region.

But a lawyer for the museums in Sevastopol said he was disappointed. 

"These treasures... have been excavated in Crimea, they've been taken care of, restored, [and] always exhibited in Crimea," Rob Meijer said.

Sergei Aksyonov, head of the Crimean regional government, said the ruling was "unfair and unlawful."

"I think the fight to return the valuables that rightfully belong to the peoples of Crimea must continue," he continued.