Twitter / Dmytro Kuleba

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba has discussed with his British counterpart Dominic Raab the role of the United Kingdom in setting up an international platform for ending Crimea's temporary occupation by Russia.

"A historic meeting with the head of British diplomacy Dominic Raab on the eve of a new chapter in Ukrainian-British relations: the Agreement on Political Cooperation, Free Trade, and Strategic Partnership," Kuleba wrote on Twitter on Wednesday, October 7.

"We discussed the role of the United Kingdom in the Crimean platform, the development of trade and investment," Ukraine's top diplomat said.

Read alsoRussia triples military presence in Crimea after annexation – MFACrimea deoccupation platform: Latest

  • In late July, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the concept was being finalized of the "Crimea is Ukraine" international platform and that it implied at the initial stage a consultative and advisory format with an expected transition to a negotiation format.
  • On August 24, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Ukraine would be offering Germany to join the future international platform for ending Crimea occupation by Russia.
  • On September 23, President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking at the general debate of the UN General Assembly's 75th session via video conference called on partners to join the platform.
  • On October 6, Zelensky announced that the European Union was ready to partake in the international platform.

Russian occupation of Crimea: Background

Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea in March 2014 after its troops had occupied the peninsula. An illegal referendum was held for Crimeans to decide on accession to Russia. De-facto Crimean authorities reported that allegedly 96.77% of the Crimean population had voted for joining Russia.

On March 18, 2014, the so-called "agreement on the accession" of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to Russia was signed in the Kremlin.

The West did not recognize the annexation in response to which sanctions against Russia were introduced.

Ukraine's parliament voted to designate February 20, 2014, as the official date when the temporary occupation of Crimea began.