Washington agreed to cooperate with Kiev on the Crimean Platform project aimed at “returning” the peninsula to Ukraine.

This was reported by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry with reference to the words of the US Charge d'Affaires in Ukraine Christina Queen.

The American diplomat said this during a meeting with First Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Emine Dzhaparova, according to the website of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.

As specified in the message published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dzhaparova expressed gratitude to the United States "for supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine."

She informed Queen about how the Ukrainian side imagines the content of the "Crimean Platform".

The aim of the project will be "to consolidate the policy of non-recognition of the occupation of Crimea by the international community."

A pleasure to meet Deputy Foreign Minister Dzhaparova today.

The US welcomes Ukraine's effort to develop a Crimean Platform to consolidate the international community's non-recognition of Russia's illegal purported annexation of Crimea.

Our position is clear: #CrimeaisUkraine!

pic.twitter.com/iGT8qte4Rj

- US Embassy Kyiv (@USEmbassyKyiv) October 26, 2020

In turn, Queen "expressed her readiness to cooperate with Ukraine" and recalled that the American position on Crimea has already been enshrined in a special declaration of the State Department.

The information was also confirmed by the US Embassy in Ukraine.

The diplomatic mission said on Twitter that the United States "welcomes Ukraine's efforts to develop the Crimean Platform."

Absurd plan

Kiev's plans to create a "Crimean Platform" in June 2020 were announced by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, speaking at a briefing in Berlin.

The minister said that there are two issues on the agenda of Ukraine related to Crimea.

The first concerns the protection of human rights and "the release of persons who are illegally detained by the Russian Federation."

“The second element is global.

It is about the format in which we will discuss the situation in Crimea and its inevitable de-occupation, ”Kuleba said.

He added that Kiev will discuss with partners what the "platform for the de-occupation of Crimea" should look like.

  • Emine Dzhaparova

  • Facebook

  • © @edzhaparova

In September, Emine Dzhaparova specified that the "Crimean Platform" will include events of different levels.

The highest of them will be the "Crimean Summit", in which, according to Kiev's plan, the leaders of states will take part.

The Ukrainian authorities plan to hold such a summit on February 26, on the Day of Resistance to the Occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol established by Volodymyr Zelensky.

However, the date for the summit has not yet been approved due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As Dzhaparova said earlier, in addition to the meeting of the leaders of the countries, the platform should also operate at the level of foreign ministers and defense ministers.

“We will bring up various activities within the framework of NATO, EU, UN, OSCE, Council of Europe to this level.

It will be an ecosystem of events throughout the year, and it should be systemic things, ”Dzhaparova said.

She also said that the outcome of the Crimean Summit will be the adoption by the participating countries of a declaration in which they will reaffirm their commitment to the “policy of non-recognition” and sanctions.

“That is, we are talking about international pressure: economic, legal, political,” the diplomat said.

In early October, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the readiness of the European Union to join the Crimean Platform.

The Ukrainian leader said this at the Ukraine-EU summit.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also expressed his readiness to join the Ukrainian project.

This was also announced by Vladimir Zelensky during his visit to Ankara.

“I have invited Turkey to join the Crimean platform.

It is a tool for protecting the rights of Crimeans and de-occupying the peninsula.

I am grateful to you, Mr. President (Erdogan

-

RT

) for your willingness to support her and be an active participant, ”Zelensky said during a press conference.

Interestingly, Kiev is preparing to invite Russia to participate in the platform.

Dzhaparova announced this earlier.

The Ukrainian diplomat added that Kiev has little hope of Moscow's participation.

She also stated that the platform will also consider those "crimes" that Russia allegedly commits in Crimea.

According to Kiev, the events of 2014 in Crimea and Donbass disrupted the post-World War II world order.

At the same time, at the end of World War II, Crimea was part of the RSFSR and was transferred to the Ukrainian SSR only in 1954.  

  • View of Yalta

  • RIA News

  • © Konstantin Mikhalchevsky

According to a member of the Federation Council committee on international affairs, senator from the Crimean region Sergei Tsekov, Moscow will leave Kiev's invitation without consideration.

"Russia will not discuss the status of its territories with anyone," RIA Novosti quotes the words of the Russian senator.

Experts also note the absurdity of Kiev's idea.

As MGIMO associate professor Kirill Koktysh explained in a commentary to RT, declaring the invitation of Russia to participate in the "platform", Ukrainian officials

imply that

Moscow thus recognizes the illegality of the annexation of Crimea.

“This is absurd, it cannot even be discussed,” the expert emphasized.

A similar point of view was expressed in a commentary by RT by Boris Mezhuev, associate professor of the philosophy department of Moscow State University.

“It is clear that Russia will not react to this invitation in any way.

How will Russia participate in the Crimean platform aimed at separating Crimea from Russia?

It is clear that this is just demagoguery, ”the expert noted.

Help in words

Recall that the return of Crimea to Russia took place against the background of the Ukrainian political crisis and the coup d'etat of 2014. 

In early February 2014, the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (ARC) (the peninsula had such a status as part of Ukraine) decided to initiate a referendum on the status of the region.

The original plan was to vote on May 25th.

However, due to the aggravation of the situation, the date of the people's will was postponed to March 16.

The overwhelming majority of Crimea residents voted to join the Russian Federation.

  • Voting in a referendum on the status of Crimea

  • RIA News

  • © Andrey Stenin

As Kirill Koktysh noted, the Crimean Platform, which is being discussed in Kiev, is positioned as an expert and advisory platform.

“Ukraine thus wants to collect some justification that Crimea should belong to it.

In fact, Kiev intends to once again fix the position of Western countries that do not recognize the Russian status of Crimea.

However, these plans should not be taken seriously.

As for the participation of the United States, they are simply trying to keep Ukraine with them with such statements.

In reality, Washington does not intend to bind itself with any obligations, ”the expert said.

According to political scientist Alexander Asafov, Kiev's initiative has an exclusively media, not practical nature.

“In fact, the Ukrainian authorities constantly make such statements, trying to present other countries as allies of Ukraine against Russia.

And it's far from the fact that anything will come of this venture at all.

It is possible that everything will be limited to loud statements and announcements of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.

This is enough to create a media agenda for the “initiative” to be written in the news, ”the expert noted.

  • Vladimir Zelensky

  • Reuters

  • © Leonhard Foeger

At the same time, it is premature to talk about Washington's serious support for Ukraine's plan to create a kind of "platform", Asafov said.

As the expert explained, now American politicians are primarily busy with domestic politicians, in particular with elections.

Other countries are also hardly ready to actively participate in the Ukrainian project, since the Crimean agenda is mainly concerned only with Kiev.

Ukraine's support will be limited to routine statements, the expert said.

“For example, the American leadership has long been trying to support Ukraine mainly in words, without going into its problems and demands.

It is much easier than providing real assistance, financial or military.

It is enough just to support such initiatives of Kiev as this "platform".

For their part, Ukrainian officials also imitate activity in front of voters with the help of such initiatives, ”the expert summed up.