Ukraine's Foreign Ministry asserts Crimea's status after Polish Foreign Minister's controversial remark

On Thursday, 19 September, Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that compromises on the territorial status of Crimea are unacceptable. This comes after Radoslaw Sikorski, the Polish Foreign Minister, proposed holding a referendum there under certain conditions. Source: European Pravda

Details: The foreign ministry stressed that the territorial integrity of Ukraine "has never been and cannot be a subject for discussion or compromise", and this is supported by both the Ukrainian Armed Forces, partners and international law.

Quote: "Crimea is the centre of gravity of Europe's security architecture. Its full recovery is possible only after complete liberation of the entire territory of Ukraine, including the Ukrainian peninsula," the statement said. The ministry expressed its expectation of support from partners to force Russia to withdraw from Crimea and bring it to justice for violations of international law and crimes committed.

"All efforts should be aimed at achieving these goals as soon as possible and not satisfying, in one way or another, the Kremlin's appetites at the expense of the interests of Ukraine and international law," the foreign ministry stated.

The foreign ministry did not explain why it voiced this message, although it came after Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski's proposal for resolving the status of Crimea was circulated by Ukrainian media. According to Sikorski, Russia and Ukraine will be unable to reach an agreement on the status of Crimea, but "we could put it under a UN mandate with a mission to prepare a fair referendum after verifying who the legal residents are and so on... And we could postpone it for 20 years." 

The international community, including Poland, does not recognise Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. Sikorski himself confirmed this position in February of this year. The Council of the European Union adopted a decision on 17 June to extend the sanctions imposed by the EU in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by the Russian Federation until 23 June next year.

In June, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued its verdict on the merits in the first interstate case, Ukraine v.

Russia (re Crimea), recognising the systemic violations of human rights committed by the Russians in occupied Crimea.

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