The Trump administration's peace proposal, which includes recognition of Russian rule over Crimea, has come as a surprise to Ukrainian officials, who say they will not accept any formal capitulation of the peninsula, although they are willing to temporarily cede territory to the Kremlin.
Experts believe that giving up the lands illegally annexed by Russia in 2014 is politically and legally impossible. It would require changing the Ukrainian constitution and holding a nationwide vote, which could be considered treason.
Ukrainian politicians and the public are strongly opposed to this idea.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” said Oleksandr Merezkho, a politician from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s party. “We will never recognize Crimea as part of Russia.”
Unlike territorial concessions, formal capitulation would mean the permanent loss of Crimea and the abandonment of any hope of its return in the future.
There is a broad understanding in Ukrainian society that land must be ceded as part of any ceasefire, since there is no military route to its return. Polls show that more and more people accept such a compromise.
However, much of the public talk about land concessions implies that they will not necessarily be permanent; for example, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko recently told the BBC that Ukraine might have to temporarily give up land as part of a peace deal.
To say otherwise would be to admit defeat, a deeply unpopular move, especially among Ukrainians living under Russian occupation who hope to one day be freed and reunited with their families.
It would also call into question the sacrifices of tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops who were killed or wounded.
US President Donald Trump underscored the significance of the Crimea proposal in an interview published Friday in Time magazine: “Crimea will stay with Russia. Zelensky understands that, and everyone knows he's been with them for a long time.”
His comments were the latest example of the US leader pressuring Ukraine to make concessions to end the conflict while it remains under siege. Mr Trump also accused Mr Zelensky of prolonging the war by resisting talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Crimea, a strategically important peninsula on the Black Sea coast in southern Ukraine, was seized by Russia several years before the full-scale invasion that began in 2022. The Russian occupation followed mass protests that ousted former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who refused to sign an association agreement with the European Union.
In the run-up to the peace talks, Ukrainian officials have told The Associated Press for months that they expect Crimea and other
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
