The president of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, has advocated this Tuesday before dozens of international leaders for the “employment” of Crimea, an objective for which his Government continues to work more than eight years after the annexation of this peninsula to Russia and which, in his opinion, would mean “a historic step against the war in Europe”.
Zelensky has headed the The Crimean Platform, a diplomatic initiative with which kyiv wants to highlight the situation of a peninsula that, for Ukraine, “is not just a territory, it is not just a token in the game of geopolitics”.
“For Ukraine, Crimea is part of our people, of our society”said Zelensky, who has gone back in time to remember that the conflict between kyiv and Moscow did not begin in February of this year, the day his counterpart Vladimir Putin gave the order to start a military invasion.
The “degradation” of Russia, according to Zelensky, began with the seizure of Crimea in 2014. The Ukrainian president He was grateful that “many people around the world” did not remain “silent then, but at the same time he has warned that there were others who remained silent, “pretending not to realize what was happening.”
“And that, in my opinion, has been one of the main reasons for everything that is happening now in Ukraine and in the world”, he lamented, without pointing to anyone in particular.
Zelensky has also stressed that the peninsula is, today, a key point for the offensive of the Russian forces, to the extent that some 750 cruise missiles have been launched from Crimea that “have destroyed hundreds of civilian targets.”
However, he has emphasized that “Crimea was and is Ukrainian” and, as such, “will be part of the European Union” in the future, once Ukraine completes an accession for which there are no deadlines yet.
international support
The virtual summit this Tuesday, heir to another held in August 2021, has served Ukraine to achieve the explicit support of fifty international leaders for its demands. For all of them, the annexation of Crimea was “illegal” and a violation of Ukrainian territorial integrity.
They urge in a joint declaration to put an end to the “temporary” occupation of the peninsula and criticize the use of Crimeas a military base to attack other targets in southern Ukraine. They call on Russia to fulfill its international obligations and ask, in the meantime, to maintain “pressure” on Moscow.
A long winter and a war of “attrition”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg predicted on Tuesday a “hard” winter and a “war of attrition” in Ukraine with “battles of will and logistics”for which he urged to maintain Western support for kyiv so that it can resist the Russian invasion and remain a sovereign nation.
In his speech at the second summit of the The Crimean Platform, in which they participate virtually about 50 representatives from countries, Stoltenberg stated that a “strong, stable and independent” Ukraine is essential to Euro-Atlantic security, so allies must “stay with Ukraine for as long as necessary.”
“Winter is coming and it will be hard. What we see now is a battle of attrition. This is a battle of wills, of logistics. That is why we must sustain support for Ukraine in the long term so that it remains a sovereign and independent nation,” Stoltenberg said.
The former Norwegian Prime Minister recalled that the NATO allies continue to support Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity and their right to self-defense, and warned that just as it is Russian President Vladimir Putin who has started this war, it is he who must stop it and withdraw his forces from Ukraine.
“The president Putin he thought he could crush the Ukrainian people and their armed forces, divide our democratic nations, dictate what others do. He was wrong”, affirmed the Secretary General of NATO, who applauded the kyiv’s “incredible skill” to “resist brutal aggression, respond to attacks, recapture territory and inflict heavy losses on Russia.”
Stoltenberg also influenced the unprecedented increase in military and other types of aid from NATO countries to Ukraine, by sending, for example, equipment to counter mines or drones, and the decision to reinforce the eastern flank of Ukraine with more troops. The alliance. “NATO’s security guarantees leave Moscow no room for error,” assured.