Minister Kuleba says Crimean Platform gaining more international support

The summit on the Crimean Platform is scheduled for Aug 23 / Photo from UNIAN

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says the initiative to create the Crimean Platform is gaining more and more support in the world.

He announced this at a joint press conference with OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Ann Linde in Kyiv on January 19, according to an UNIAN correspondent.

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"We are now at the stage of sending leaders of other states official invitations to a Crimean Platform Summit," the minister said.

"The work that we are doing with all countries to clarify the goals of the Crimean Platform and its format demonstrates that this initiative is gaining more and more support," he said.

Crimean Platform to end Russian occupation of the peninsula

• On September 23, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who participated in the general debate of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, called on partners to join an international platform for the end of the Russian occupation of Crimea.
• In December, Zelensky announced that the creation of the Crimean platform had already been backed by Europe and North America.
• The platform will operate at several levels. The first, the highest one, is the political level, which will involve heads of state and government. The second level is that of top diplomats and defense chiefs, the third is the inter-parliamentary level, and the fourth will involve non-governmental experts. An expert network will be created to enhance the effectiveness of government action, as well as engaging additional intellectual resources in the platform's work.
• The Crimean Platform Summit is scheduled for August 23, 2021. 

Russian occupation of Crimea

• 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.