Polish President Andrzej Duda doubted the possibility that Ukraine would be able to return Crimea to its control. According to him, the peninsula is a special place from a historical point of view.

“Because, essentially, if we look at history, Crimea was in Russian hands for a long time,” he said in an interview on Kanal Zero. His words are quoted by RIA Novosti.

Political scientist Evgeny Mikhailov stated that Duda, with his statement on Crimea, caused discontent in the political circles of the republic and in Ukraine.

“I think that such a statement was made for a reason. Firstly, it is obvious that Russia will not give up Crimea. Secondly, Poland itself aims to regain its territories in the event of the collapse and collapse of Ukraine. It is likely that this is a message from Russia: when you return the territories, you will remember that Lvov and so on were the territory of Poland. This is a nod in our direction. It’s clear that someone doesn’t like this, but this is an unambiguous hint to Moscow,” said RT’s interlocutor.

In turn, American political scientist Malek Dudakov believes that Andrzej Duda’s statement was made as part of the internal political struggle in Poland.

“I think that sometimes internal confrontation comes out in the form of such statements. Donald Tusk or other liberal representatives are talking about providing assistance to Ukraine, and then Duda suddenly changes his shoes and says that Ukraine cannot return Crimea. I think this shouldn’t be taken seriously, this is an internal political squabble within the Poles, which leads to such comments in an unexpected way,” the expert emphasized in a conversation with RT.

  • Polish President Andrzej Duda doubted Ukraine's ability to return Crimea

Thus, the head of the Polish Foreign Ministry Radoslaw Sikorski, who represents the coalition opposing the president’s Law and Justice party, said that Warsaw “recognizes the independence of Ukraine within its internationally established borders.”

In turn, the Ukrainian Ambassador to Poland Vasily Zvarich called it the task and responsibility of Kyiv and the “free world” to return Crimea. “We will do this absolutely. We believe and act together,” he wrote on social networks.

Later, Duda himself had to explain his words. In his opinion, “the occupation of the internationally recognized territories of Ukraine, including Crimea, is a crime.” He stressed that his position regarding “Russian brutal aggression” was clear from day one.

Crimea returned to the Russian Federation after a referendum took place there in March 2014: the majority of residents were in favor of reunification with Russia. The Kremlin has repeatedly emphasized that the Crimea issue is closed for Moscow, and any claims to Russian territory will receive a proper response.

Also on russian.rt.com Harm Russia: The United States planned an invasion of Crimea back in 1957

This week, Vladimir Putin explained why Russia came to the aid of the inhabitants of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

“I was sure that both the Crimeans and all of Russia wanted this return to their homeland. Just like the vast majority of people in the country want to help Donbass. They don’t want to throw people under the wheels of these neo-Nazis,” the Russian President said at a meeting with active participants of the “Everything for Victory!” forum.

He also noted that Russia would have turned into a decrepit, not self-sufficient, useless country if it had abandoned and failed to protect its people in Crimea, Donbass, the Kherson region and Zaporozhye.

“Now, if we don’t want to leave such a decrepit, useless country, we don’t want to doom our children to feel like second-class citizens, of course, in no case should we abandon our people - neither in Crimea nor in Novorossiya or Donbass. We must make our country self-sufficient. This is the main manifestation of sovereignty. And what you all are doing together, in the economy as a whole, when it became clear to the whole world and, most importantly, to ourselves that we are a self-sufficient country,” the head of state added.

Russians and Ukrainians coexist peacefully with each other in Crimea, contrary to Kyiv's forecasts. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine in January.

“Changes in the consciousness of Ukrainians are clearly visible in social networks. Despite the most severe censorship, the truth is emerging about how they live in Crimea and other territories that have recently reunited with Russia. Contrary to the predictions of Kyiv propagandists, Russians, Ukrainians, and other nationalities live there in peace and harmony. The new government solves people’s problems, improves their lives, develops infrastructure, and does not think about how to line their own pockets,” he said.