“We could put Crimea under the UN mandate and prepare a fair referendum,” suggested Sikorski. First of all, it would be necessary to find out who are the legal residents who have the right to vote. “And we could postpone it by 20 years,” suggested Sikorski at a conference in Kyiv, Kyiv Independent website reported.
“Crimea is symbolically important for Russia, and especially for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, but strategically important for Ukraine. That’s why I don’t understand how they will be able to come to an agreement without demilitarizing Crimea,” explained Sikorski. According to him, the West made a mistake in 2014 when it allegedly told Ukraine not to fight for Crimea.
If the Ukrainians had fought in Crimea in 2014, even if only symbolically, Putin probably would not have attacked Donbas, the Polish politician thinks.
Ukrainians: Absolutely unacceptable
This proposal provoked opposition from Ukraine, which refuses any compromise regarding the territorial integrity of the country. The Ukrainian authorities reiterated that Crimea is an inseparable part of Ukraine and that peace efforts must begin with the withdrawal of Russian forces.
Oleksandr Merezhko, chairman of the Supreme Council’s committee for foreign policy and interparliamentary cooperation, said that Sikorsky’s statements were “absolutely unacceptable”, the Unian agency wrote.
“To be honest, I was very upset and surprised by this (Sikorský’s) statement. We would expect an understanding of the situation and support from the minister of foreign affairs from our friendly country, our ally,” Merežko said.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement that “…the territorial integrity of Ukraine has never been and cannot be the subject of discussion or compromise. Crimea is Ukraine”. Even the president’s representative for Crimea, Tamila Taševa, called Sikorský’s statements unfortunate.
The Russians stole Crimea for themselves
However, the Russians did not wait long to react to Sikorsky’s statement. “This is a somewhat absurd statement,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said according to the TASS agency. “Russian territory and Russian regions cannot be the subject of any discussion or transfer to anyone,” he said.
According to the Ukrainian authorities, up to 800,000 Russian citizens have illegally settled in Crimea since the beginning of the occupation in 2014.
The Russians annexed Crimea, which is still internationally recognized Ukrainian territory, in 2014. After the fall of the Ukrainian government and the Maidan protests in the same year, the Russians quickly gained control of the area thanks to the deployment of military forces.
This was followed by a controversial referendum in which the residents of Crimea allegedly voted to join Russia. This move was not recognized internationally and caused extensive sanctions and tension between Russia and the West.
History of Crimea
The history of the Crimean peninsula dates back to ancient times. The Crimean peninsula was inhabited by various ancient civilizations, including the Greeks, Scythians and Persians. During this time, he gained considerable prosperity thanks to trade and created his own Greek colonies, such as Chersonésos.
In the 5th century, the Byzantines took control of the Crimeawho founded the Eastern Roman provinces here. Later, the Khazars, the Mongols and the Ottoman Empire also settled here. In the 15th century, the Turkic nation of Tatars founded the Crimean Khanate on the peninsula. During this time Crimea raided the surrounding territory and became a center of trade and piracy.
Only at the end of the 18th century, after the defeat of the Crimean Khanate, Crimea was annexed by the Russian Empire. The then empress Catherine the Great supported the construction of ports, roads and fortifications, and Crimea became an important maritime and trade center for the Russian Empire under her rule.
In the 19th century, Crimea became famous as a popular tourist resort. During the Crimean War in 1853–1856, intense fighting took place in Crimea between the Russian Empire and a coalition of countries led by France and Great Britain.
After the fall of the empire, the regional government sought to join the Ukrainian People’s Republic. V in 1921, the Russians took control of Crimea again by force and annexed it to the Soviet Union. During World War II, Crimea was occupied by Nazi Germany, but Soviet forces liberated it in 1944. After the war, Crimea became part of the Russian Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union.
In 1954, Crimea was administratively transferred from the Russian SSR to the Ukrainian SSR, officially it happened on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Pereyaslav and due to the natural proximity and ties of Crimea to Ukraine.
Ukraine gained independence with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, including Crimea, which Russia recognized in writing in 1994 in the Budapest Memorandum and confirmed three years later in the Russia-Ukraine Treaty of Friendship. However in 2014, Russia annexed Crimea and declared it as its territory. This annexation was not recognized internationally and triggered sanctions against Russia.
