“These are all commonplace, constantly repeating spells, idle talk, which is not based on a real assessment of the situation in Crimea, Ukraine, the world,” Tsekov said.
He said that "the Kiev authorities can’t do anything real, and therefore they always talk about the return of Crimea as a territory, without seeing the population there."
The senator emphasized that Crimea will never return to Ukraine.
“Crimeans remember the period of complete destruction under Ukraine and see the period of complete recovery and development now,” Tsekov noted.
He added that the Ukrainian authorities "do not want to hear the opinion of the Crimeans, as they will get the obvious answer - Crimea is a legitimate part of Russia."
Earlier Zelensky expressed confidence that the Crimea "will return" to Ukraine.
Crimea became the Russian region after a referendum held in March 2014, in which most residents spoke out for reunification with Russia.