Washington will send a delegation to Kiev for the Crimean Platform summit, led by US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.

This was reported by the press service of the White House.

“Today, US President Joseph Biden announced that a presidential delegation will visit Kiev on August 23-24, 2021.

She will take part in the Crimean Platform summit and events dedicated to the 30th anniversary of independence (Ukraine. -

RT

).

The delegation will be led by US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, ”the press release says.

The delegation also includes US Charge d'Affaires in Ukraine Christina Queen and US Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for International Affairs Andrew Light.

Earlier, the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine from the European Solidarity party, Mustafa Dzhemilev, said that although the diplomatic circles of Ukraine hoped for a visit from the head of the White House, he would still not be able to come "for a number of reasons."

“And besides, Biden has a specific relationship with Ukraine due to the fact that Trump tried to use in his election campaign, because of this, most likely, he will not come.

Even if he really wants, his entourage will try to dissuade him, ”said the Ukrainian deputy.

Recall that in May, during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky invited US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to personally attend the Crimean Platform summit.

  • US President Joe Biden

  • Reuters

  • © Ken Cedeno

"Impudent Initiatives" of Kiev

It is worth noting that not only the head of the White House, but also most of the presidents of states who confirmed their participation in this event, but at a lower level, refused to personally attend the "Crimean Platform".

So, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, out of 44 delegations of foreign states and international organizations, only 14 will be represented at the highest level.

They will include the heads of countries and governments of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Moldova, Slovenia, Finland, Romania, Georgia, Croatia and Sweden.

The leadership of the European Union will be represented by the head of the European Council Charles Michel.

Most of the countries that have confirmed their participation in the summit, including the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, France, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Spain, will send lower-ranking officials to the event.

At the same time, during a briefing on August 19, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that, regardless of the level of representation, all states that will take part in the summit “become the founders of the Crimean Platform.

“The signals voiced at the summit and the commitments taken on the basis of its results are equally valid for each state, regardless of who headed the delegation,” he stressed.

At the same time, Kuleba noted that Ukraine "should not sit back and wait for someone to help her."

“We (must. -

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) come up with real initiatives, ambitious, sometimes arrogant.

We must go forward and lead our partners, ”he said.

The Ukrainian minister also said that Kiev will work to attract new countries to the format of the "Crimean Platform", and expressed confidence that in the future "their number will grow."

Recall that Vladimir Zelensky came up with the initiative to create the Crimean Platform in October 2020.

In February 2021, he signed a decree on measures aimed at the "de-occupation" of Crimea - the Cabinet of Ministers of the country was instructed to organize the first meeting within the framework of the summit.

“This is an international platform initiated by Ukraine for the search and further implementation of a set of measures to de-occupy the peninsula and protect the rights of Crimeans,” Zelensky said in his address to the citizens of the country.

Later, in March 2021, he wrote on his Twitter that Kiev “unites the world” on the basis of the “Crimean Platform” in order to “return Ukrainian things to Ukraine”.

For the same time, Russia ruled a fake referendum at the Crimea.

#Ukraine was for the first time to have illegally annexed the strategy of de-purchase and reintegration of pvostrov.

We are united by light on the basis of the Krimskoy platforms, and turn to Ukrainian Ukrainian.

# CrimeaIsUkrainepic.twitter.com / SUfjjpifFL

- Volodymyr Zelensky (@ZelenskyyUa) March 16, 2021

We will remind, Crimea became Russian territory after the referendum held on the peninsula in March 2014, in which the majority of residents spoke in favor of reunification with Russia.

Last June, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized Kiev's initiative to host the Crimean Platform summit.

According to her, Ukraine "out of despair" is organizing this "bright event".

In turn, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the "Crimean Platform" a sabbath, in which the West "will continue to nurture neo-Nazi, racist sentiments of the modern Ukrainian government."

"Not a priority area"

According to a RT source in the Office of the President of Ukraine, organizing a negotiating platform, Kiev was counting on a higher level of delegations from leading Western countries.

“We tried to tell the Western world how important it is to support a democratic world.

And they invited the presidents of all countries.

But few heads of state will come to the summit, many really limited themselves to formal delegations, ”he said.

In turn, a RT source in the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry explained that representatives of many countries do not want to visit the "Crimean Platform" because of possible problems with Russia.

“A number of EU countries give preference to relations with the Russian Federation, rather than with Ukraine.

Therefore, it was very difficult to invite delegations.

But Kiev is interested in raising the issue of Crimea at the international level.

It is a pity that the US leadership at the highest level will not visit the country, ”the RT interlocutor complained.

  • Kiev

  • Gettyimages.ru

According to Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Research, the reluctance of most of the largest and most influential Western countries to send top officials to the Crimean Platform summit suggests that for the collective West, the Ukrainian issue and the Crimea issue are “not a priority area”.

In addition, many states that will be represented in Kiev by non-presidents really do not want to completely spoil relations with Russia, the analyst said in an interview with RT.

“For example, if Biden comes to the summit, then it will be even more difficult for him to build a dialogue with Russia.

The same can be said about the leaders of other countries, who chose not to go to Kiev, ”he explained.

In turn, a RT source in the Batkivshchyna party believes that even those representatives of Western countries who come to Ukraine will discuss bilateral issues rather than Crimea.

“Judging by the US delegation, they are more interested in energy topics than the peninsula.

Therefore, I do not think that even the countries present at the summit will rush to sign any documents.

The declaration will probably be about the need to support the development of democracy in the world - and that's it.

This is more of a show than a real attempt to resolve any issue, ”he said.

The only thing that Kiev will achieve is "beautiful photos for memory" after the Crimean Platform summit, believes an RT source in the Servant of the People party.

“What is the point of this meeting is not very clear.

You can meet even in a day, but Russia will not give up Crimea.

And all Western partners and the Ukrainian elite understand this, ”the source said to RT.

In turn, political scientist and economist Alexander Dudchak, in a conversation with RT, expressed confidence that the "Crimean Platform" "is a hopeless event."

“This summit is meaningless in its essence, although Kiev is trying to promote it in all possible ways, to focus attention on it, raising the issue of Crimea. But for Moscow, as Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier, this issue is not raised, it is closed completely and irrevocably. Kiev has no reason to claim this territory under its control. Ukraine wants to develop this topic so that the West helps it with money and imposes new sanctions on Russia. But the leaders of most Western countries already have a noticeable fatigue from the Ukrainian issue, ”the expert summed up.