International summit initiated by Ukraine reaffirmed Monday (August 23) After the Russian army occupied the strategic Black Sea peninsula for seven and a half years, it promised to cancel its occupation of Crimea.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said in Kiev that the “countdown to retreat” is underway, urging international allies to support this effort.
Speaking At the first Crimea Platform Summit, Zelensky vowed to “do everything possible to return Crimea, so that Crimea and Ukraine will become part of Europe together.”
“To this end, we will use all possible political, legal and primary diplomatic means,” Zelensky said, adding that Kiev needs “effective support at the international level.”
The initiative is A new form of consultation launched by UCrane, aim Efforts to put Crimea back under Ukrainian control have bundled together and increased international pressure on Russia.
Senior officials from 46 countries and groups participated in the summit, including all EU and 30 NATO member states, as well as the United States.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 after a military invasion, But the peninsula is an internationally recognized part of Ukraine, it hopes Regain full control.
Zelensky urged that this issue “should not disappear from the international agenda for another seven years”, adding that Ukraine has proposed to focus on “practical work and coordinated efforts on very specific issues”.
According to Kiev, these will include strengthening sanctions and protecting human rights, as well as overcoming the environmental and economic impact of the occupation, and ensuring free navigation in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
“The occupation of the Crimean Peninsula began in Moscow, and we will definitely begin to lift the occupation of Crimea in Kiev,” Zelensky said.
He called on all countries to appoint representatives, who will liaise with the office established by the Crimea platform and coordinate their work.
The joint statement signed by all 46 summit participants, including 14 national leaders, emphasized the possibility of Ukraine regaining complete control of the peninsula.
Zelensky stated in his closing remarks, “It clearly stipulates that Russia will not recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea, and promised to consider additional political and diplomatic sanctions against Russia in the event of further Russian aggression.”
Moscow pressure
Last week, Russia imposed sanctions on Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba, his deputy Emin Zaparova, and the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Commission of Ukraine Oleksi Danilov. Kiev said This move is retaliation against the forum organization.
Although Russia was initially invited, it emphasized that it would not negotiate the return of Crimea to Ukraine because it considered the meeting to be a provocative incident and allegedly an attack on Russia’s territorial integrity.
Moscow called on participating countries to withdraw their support for the summit or cancel their attendance at the summit. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described the summit as a “sabbath of witches.”
Senior Western officials at the summit reiterated their message of support for Ukraine.
Charles Michel, President of the European Council, said: “We will neither recognize nor recognize Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol. We will continue to resolutely implement our non-recognition policy, and we will resolutely oppose any Violation of international law.” Kiev added that the EU’s position on this matter remains “firm and unwavering”.
However, the head of the European Union emphasized that “Unfortunately, Russia continues to act in a way that expands the negative effects of annexation.”
“The continued militarization of the peninsula has seriously affected the security situation in the Black Sea region. This should be reversed,” Michelle emphasized.
Although the participating countries sent higher-level representatives to Kiev, some countries have lowered their attendance rates. German Chancellor Angela Merkel did not attend, although she was here to hold a bilateral meeting with Zelensky.
When asked whether her decision was to please Russia, Merkel stated that the purpose of her visit on the eve of the meeting was to “discuss the Minsk and Normandy agreements,” which included Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas was supposed to attend the meeting, but “due to the current situation in Afghanistan” was replaced by Economy Minister Peter Altmeier.
The French Minister of Economy also sent representatives to attend.
Crimean Tatars
Michel criticized Crimean citizens for the “horrible” human rights violations and the persecution of Crimean Tatars “because Russia tried to force the peninsula into its mainland.”
“The Crimean Tatars continue to be persecuted and pressured, and their rights are severely violated-all this and the continued destruction of the cultural heritage of the peninsula must be stopped,” he added.
Crimean Tatars, which account for nearly 15% of Crimea’s 2.3 million population, opposed Moscow’s takeover. Since 2014, an estimated 30,000 Tatars have fled Crimea.
In the ruthless suppression by the Russian authorities, there have been more than one hundred political prisoners on the peninsula, some of whom have been sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from 12 to 18 years.
Moscow has banned the main representative bodies of the Crimean Tatars and some religious groups that are considered Islamic terrorist organizations, and strongly opposes allegations of discrimination against the Crimean Tatars.
The summit was kicked off by the Ukrainian singer Susana Dzhamaladinova of Crimean Tatar descent. She won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2016. The song tells of the mass expulsion ordered by Stalin in 1944. Crimean Tatars.
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]
