Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko Pledges To Return Crimea To Ukraine If Re-Elected As Ukrainian President

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published March 18, 2019 | 10:45 AM

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko pledged to do anything possible to return Crimea, which rejoined Russia five years ago as a result of a referendum, to Ukraine, in case he wins the presidential election, slated for March 31

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th March, 2019) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko pledged to do anything possible to return Crimea, which rejoined Russia five years ago as a result of a referendum, to Ukraine, in case he wins the presidential election, slated for March 31.

A poll, conducted by the Ukrainian Center for Social and Marketing Research SOCIS on March 5-10 across Ukraine, put Poroshenko in second place in the race for Ukrainian presidency. He is projected to get slightly less than 20 percent of votes, while comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy is expected to win the election with 27 percent.

"Ukraine will never go for any haggling or any behind-the-scenes agreements.

And Crimea will return to Ukraine. We will do everything to make it happen as soon as possible, right after the presidential election," Poroshenko posted on Facebook late on Sunday.

Following a change of power in Kiev, which the Crimean peninsula viewed as a coup, people in Crimea held a referendum in March 2014 to determine the future of the region, and over 90 percent of those who voted chose to rejoin Russia. However, Ukraine and the majority of Western states continue to regard Crimea as Ukrainian territory and accuse Russia of "annexation." Meanwhile, the Russian government has repeatedly stressed that Crimean residents had decided to rejoin Russia in a legitimate vote.