Office of the President comments after WSJ publication on Crimea: "These statements were made 10 years ago, but they did not lead to any development"
Kyiv • UNN
The Ukrainian negotiating team officially did not agree to discuss territorial integrity, including Crimea. An advisor to the Office of the President stated that the Constitution of Ukraine contains direct prohibitions on such discussions.
All negotiators attending international meetings in either Saudi Arabia or France clearly state that the issue of Ukraine's territorial integrity is not discussed at all. This was stated by the advisor to the Head of the President's Office, Serhiy Leshchenko, on the telethon air on Monday after the publication in The Wall Street Journal regarding Crimea, reports UNN correspondent.
Details
"None of the negotiators has an officially stated position on this. The Ukrainian negotiation team has not given any consent to this… All negotiators attending meetings in either Saudi Arabia or France clearly state that the issue of Ukraine's territorial integrity is not discussed at all. And even the Constitution of Ukraine contains numerous prohibitions and restrictions on even theoretically discussing this topic, but this media landscape is filled [with such discussions]," Leshchenko noted.
"These topics were raised 10 years ago as well, and Donald Trump, then a presidential candidate, even before his first term in the summer of 2016, also said that the residents of Crimea want to be with Russia rather than where they were. These statements were made regularly 10 years ago, but it did not lead to any developments; we must proceed from the fact that the main thing is to defend our Ukrainian national interests," pointed out the advisor to the Head of the President's Office.
He also added that political statements, similar to those made by Trump, are part of his political activity, and even if they are voiced in the media, it does not mean that they will necessarily become reality.
As a reminder
Earlier, Bloomberg reported that the United States of America is ready to recognize "Russian control" over annexed Crimea. It concerns a "broad peace agreement" between Moscow and Kyiv, but specific terms are not provided.
WSJ reported the day before that Ukraine is "under pressure" to respond this week "to a series of far-reaching ideas from the Trump administration on how to end the war in Ukraine, by making concessions to Russia, including potential US recognition of Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and Kyiv's exclusion from NATO membership."