The President of Ukraine said that he was inviting the Russian Federation to participate in the Crimean Platform site for “joint development of ways to de-occupy Crimea.”
The Crimean Platform summit, initiated by Ukraine, is being held in Kiev on 23 August. It discusses the issue of “returning” control over Crimea. More than 40 countries and international organizations are taking part in the summit. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the forum a sabbath, at which “the West will continue to nurture neo-Nazi, racist sentiments of the modern Ukrainian government.”
Zelensky noted that Russia’s discussion and commenting on the summit prompted people to think of it as a full-fledged participant in the Crimean platform.
“If this platform interests her so much, we invite the Russian Federation to join the Crimean Platform to jointly work out ways to de-occupy Crimea and correct its historical, tragic mistake,” Zelensky said during the summit.
The Crimean Platform website says that this is a new international consulting format. The platform is aimed at increasing the efficiency of the international response to the entry of the peninsula into Russia.
Crimea became a Russian region after a referendum was held there in March 2014. Ukraine still considers Crimea to be its own, but temporarily occupied territory. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Crimea issue is “finally closed.”