MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th June, 2023) The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry rejected on Saturday a peace proposal tabled by Indonesia, which includes referendums in Crimea and other newly acquired Russian territories that Ukraine sees as its own.
"We appreciate Indonesia's attention to the restoration of peace in Ukraine... But there are no territories that are contested by Ukraine and Russia that require referendums to be held," foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said.
Crimea, a Black Sea peninsula where ethnic Russians make up the largest share of the population, voted to cede from Ukraine and rejoin Russia following a coup in Kiev in 2014. The Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions voted overwhelmingly to join Russia last September.
Nikolenko also rejected a proposed ceasefire and the creation of a Korea-style demilitarized zone between Russia and Ukraine that would be overseen by UN peacekeeping troops.
The plan was floated by Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto during an Asian defense summit in Singapore, which was attended by Ukrainian and US defense ministers. Ukraine's Oleksii Reznikov was quoted as saying by Bloomberg that the proposal "sounds like a Russian plan, not an Indonesian plan."
