Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that the Crimean Platform event, which is scheduled for August 23, will unite Kiev's foreign partners who support Ukraine's sovereignty
KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th January, 2021) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that the Crimean Platform event, which is scheduled for August 23, will unite Kiev's foreign partners who support Ukraine's sovereignty.
"The Crimean Platform will become a platform that will unite our international partners who support the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine within internationally recognized borders. These are not empty words for me. There are clear actions behind them," Zelenskyy said as quoted by his office.
The president added that Ukraine would make efforts to regain sovereignty over Crimea that rejoined Russia after nearly 97 percent of voters supported the move in the March 2014 referendum.
"We will not give up our territories. This terrible mistake wasn't made by us, but it is we who have to correct it. It is wrong that no one has thought about the return of Crimea since 2014 and until my administration," Zelenskyy said.
According to Zelenskyy's office, the president will invite the leaders of all friendly states to visit events that will be held within the framework of the event.
In September, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke at the 75th session of the UN General Assembly and called on the international community to join the platform that would work on what he called de-occupation of Crimea. Ukraine hopes that the initiative will be supported by the European Union, the United States and the United Kingdom, which rejected the outcome of the 2014 referendum in Crimea that saw a vast majority of the peninsula's population vote for the reunification with Russia.
The Russian leadership has repeatedly stated that Crimean residents democratically, and in full compliance with international law and the UN Charter, voted for reunification with Russia. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Crimea issue is "closed." The deputy chairwoman of the Russian lower house's committee on international affairs, Natalya Poklonskaya, said that Russia would regard Kiev's attempts to hold the summit that would discuss the status of Crimea as preparation for an international crime.
