Representative of the Crimean Interethnic Mission Zaur Smirnov on Saturday, February 3, called the statement of Polish President Andrzej Duda about the historical identity of Crimea a sign of adequacy.
“There is nothing sensational in Duda’s words. Western politicians simply began to show signs of adequacy. After all, you can’t constantly act contrary to reality and common sense,” he shared with “RIA News”.
Smirnov emphasized that Polish-Ukrainian relations are gradually returning to their usual course, where Ukraine is assigned a secondary role.
On February 2, Duda, in an interview with the YouTube channel Kanal Zero, doubted that Ukraine would be able to return Crimea. He recalled that the peninsula is historically part of Russia, pointing out that most of the time it was part of it.
Political scientist Alexander Asafov pointed out that such a statement will not add positivity to relations between Warsaw and Kyiv, but is unlikely to complicate them, since the “managers” of these relations are located in the UK and the USA. For Kyiv, such statements are unpleasant, but representatives of Ukraine also often make unpleasant statements about Duda and Poland, he added.
In December 2023, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, in an interview with the German publication Bild, also indicated that the country would return the peninsula under its control in 2024. At the same time, the Ministry of Defense later stated that the newspaper misinterpreted Umerov’s words and emphasized that the minister did not make any forecasts or announce specific dates.
Crimea became part of Russia in 2014 after a referendum in which the majority of residents of the peninsula voted for reunification with the Russian Federation. Kyiv refuses to recognize the results of the vote and considers Crimea its territory. The leadership of the Russian Federation has repeatedly stated that the residents of Crimea democratically, in full compliance with international law, voted for reunification and the question of the ownership of the peninsula is finally closed.
#Crimea #Dudas #words #region #belonging #Russian #Federation #called #sign #adequacy
