Ukrainian Foreign Minister Expects Crimea To Be On Agenda Of Putin-Zelenskyy Meeting

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th September, 2021) Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba expressed on Tuesday his belief that Crimea's status will be discussed at a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders, despite the contrary opinion of the Russian government.

Kremlin Spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on Sunday in an interview with the Rossiya 1 channel that President Vladimir Putin was ready to meet with his Ukrainian countepart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but Kiev showed no mutual political will. Peskov also emphasized that Crimea cannot become an item on the agenda of negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.

"By holding the Crimean Platform summit, we showed that we will never forget about Crimea, and Crimea is not an issue on which compromises can be made. I am convinced that the Crimean issue will be on the agenda in all circumstances. The question is how it will be publicly covered," Kuleba said on the air of the Ukrainian 1+1 tv channel.

The foreign minister noted that Russia had already begun to haggle over including the Crimean issue in the discussion.

"The good news is that they [Russians] are already haggling. If it started from Moscow saying that it was not clear what to talk about, that the agendas and visions of the meeting absolutely did not match, now they are already haggling over its agenda," Kuleba stated.

The Ukrainian foreign minister also stressed that the Ukrainian authorities were ready to meet with Putin and noted Kiev had the impression that Moscow was "constantly looking for an excuse to get off of this."

"We call on the Russian Federation to agree to this meeting and to hold an honest conversation about how we will stop Russian aggression against our state and de-occupy our territories," Kuleba said.

On August 23, Kiev hosted the inaugural Crimean Platform summit to stoke pressure on Moscow over the accession of Crimea to Russia. The conference was attended by 44 countries and international organizations. Peskov called the summit an "anti-Russian event."

Crimea became a part of Russia in a referendum held in March 2014 in which near 96% of Crimeans voted for joining Russia. Ukraine still considers Crimea to be its own territory that was illegally occupied by Russia. Moscow has repeatedly stated that the decision made by the Crimean people was made in full compliance with international law and the UN Charter. According to Putin, the Crimean issue is "finally closed."