The Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky said that the talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the issue of the Crimea, but noted that Russia does not want to discuss it.
“Ukraine directly stipulates the situation in the Crimea. I agree with all the Europeans who I meet, everyone understands that sanctions policy, despite the fact that some European countries have tied it only to the Donbas, at least in their thinking, and the lifting of sanctions against the Russian Federation can be only once, some believe, will return the Donbass in Ukraine”, — he said during a press conference.
According to him, the United States and Canada, and most EU countries, including Germany and France, “all they understand” that “Crimea is not coming back, sanctions will not be lifted”.
“While this is only one method where we speak about Crimea… When I had the first meeting in Normandy with Angela Merkel, we raised this issue with the President of the French Republic, and to be honest, I said it to Putin. I feel that Russia does not want, of course, to discuss this issue. But we all remember that this is our land, our people,” said Zelensky.
Earlier Zelensky said that the “return” of Crimea is part of national idea of Ukraine.
On December 9 in Paris held a summit in the Normandy format with participation of leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany.
Crimea became a Russian region after held there in March 2014 referendum in which the majority of residents voted for reunification with Russia.
