Ukraine, "ready" to talk with Russia about Crimea, if the expected counter-offensive is successful
Kyiv is willing to discuss the future of Crimea with Moscow, if its forces reach the border of the Russian-occupied peninsula, a high-ranking adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenski told the "Financial Times", reports Hotnews.ro.
The statements by Andrii Sîbiha, Zelenskiy's deputy chief of staff, represent the most explicit declaration of Ukraine's interest in negotiations since Kiev broke off peace talks with the Kremlin last April.
"If we succeed in achieving our strategic objectives on the battlefield and when we are at the administrative border with Crimea, we are ready to open a diplomatic page to discuss this issue," said Andrii Sîbiha, referring to the expected counteroffensive planned for some time by Kiev.
Andrii Sîbiha is an experienced diplomat who focuses on foreign policy in the president's office and was with Zelenskiy at key moments of the war. He said the president and his advisers are now talking specifically about Crimea as the Ukrainian military moves closer to launching a counteroffensive to retake the Russian-held territory.
Ukraine broke off talks with Moscow after the discovery of alleged war crimes by Russians in Bucea, a suburb of Kiev, and Zelenskiy signed a decree ruling out negotiations with Putin after the Kremlin annexed four Ukrainian provinces in September. So far, Zelensky has ruled out peace talks until Russian forces leave all of Ukraine, including Crimea.
The Ukrainian president has repeatedly stated that his ultimate goal is to return all of the country's territory, including Crimea, under Kiev's control. But in May last year, he ruled that Ukraine could consider a peace deal if Russian forces returned to positions in eastern Ukraine prior to last year's invasion, and suggested that the Crimea issue could be resolved later through diplomacy. Crimea has been under Russian occupation since February 2014 and was annexed by Moscow the following month after a mock referendum - a move condemned internationally as an illegal land grab.
On the other hand, Mihailo Podoliak, an adviser to President Zelenskiy, told Radio Free Europe on Wednesday that Ukrainian forces will be "at Crimea's door" in "five to seven months".
But some of Ukraine's Western allies fear that Putin could resort to tactical nuclear weapons to defend the peninsula, whose status the Kremlin says is non-negotiable. So Sîbiha's comments could ease the situation of Western officials who are skeptical of Ukraine's ability to reclaim the peninsula and fear that any attempt to do so militarily could prompt President Vladimir Putin to escalate war, possibly with nuclear weapons, reads the Financial Times.
