In Ukraine, 40 countries condemn Russia’s annexation of Crimea

Published on : 08/23/2021 – 20:56

“Crimea is Ukraine.” Ukraine and about forty of its allies condemned, Monday, August 23, the annexation of Crimea by Moscow in a joint declaration proclaimed during the “Crimean Platform”, the first international summit on the subject organized by Kiev.

This verbal support for Ukraine comes at a time when the country has continued, in recent months, to complain about the reluctance of its partners, who refuse to join NATO, maintain gas agreements with Moscow to the detriment of Ukrainians or refuse to deliver offensive armaments to it.

“The synergy of our efforts must force Russia to sit down at the negotiating table on the return of our peninsula,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the opening of this forum.

“Ukraine alone will never be able to bring Crimea back, we need effective support at the international level” for its “liberation”, he added, calling in particular to “strengthen the sanctions” taken against Moscow.

“Ukraine will never be alone and Crimea is Ukraine”

About fifteen European presidents and prime ministers attended the meeting, while countries such as Germany, France, the United States and Turkey sent ministers or presidents of parliament.

“Ukraine will never be alone and Crimea is Ukraine”, for his part stressed on the spot the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven called the 2014 annexation “an arrogant violation of the security order in Europe”.

The participants adopted a joint resolution condemning the annexation of Crimea and the violations of human rights in this territory as well as its “militarization” by Moscow, while stressing to await “the return to Ukraine” of the peninsula. .

However, the signatories did not announce any concrete measures. And many were those who noted the absence in Ukraine of European heavyweights such as Angela Merkel or Emmanuel Macron.

The day before the forum, the German Chancellor was in Kiev, where she tried to reassure, without success, President Zelensky who fears seeing his country sacrificed on the altar of European gas interests.

He nevertheless welcomed on Monday the creation of an “international coalition for the liberation of Crimea” and called on Russia to “correct its tragic historical error”.

Moscow’s wrath

The Russians, for their part, denounced the forum. “We consider this event to be extremely hostile” and “anti-Russian”, reacted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

In the run-up to this summit, the Ukrainian authorities and media also criticized Russian “pressure” on third countries to dissuade them from participating.

This Ukrainian peninsula was annexed by Moscow in March 2014 in the wake of a pro-Western revolution in Kiev, which Russia calls a coup. It was followed by the outbreak of a war in eastern Ukraine against pro-Russian separatists, of whom Russia, despite its multiple denials, is considered the military godfather.

With AFP