The deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Sibiga, said in an interview with the Financial Times on April 5 that Ukraine is ready to discuss with Russia the status of Crimea after Ukrainian troops withdraw to the administrative borders of the annexed republic (RBC story).
Sibiga stressed that Kyiv did not rule out a military solution to the issue of Crimea’s territorial affiliation. According to him, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s recent discussion of Crimea is related to the planned offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
It should be recalled that in late January 2014, during the Sochi Olympics, “polite people” appeared in the Ukrainian republic of Crimea, who at gunpoint forced deputies to vote for a referendum, which was organized by Russia and held three weeks later under an unclear law.
On March 18, 2014, Russia “accepted” Crimea into its composition, restoring, in the words of Vladimir Putin, “historical justice. The results of the “referendum” are not recognized by civilized countries.
It should be noted that the Russian authorities are now building defense lines in the resort Crimea, digging trenches and creating fortifications.
