Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says no amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation will prevent de-occupation of Ukrainian Crimea.
"Now many people are pondering amendments to the Russian Constitution, which supposedly should fix the 'inviolability of Russian borders.' Today I'd like to firmly state: not a single provision of Russian legislation fixed in the law, the president's decree or the Constitution of this country can prevent Crimea de-occupation. Crimea was, is, and will be Ukrainian," Kuleba said during a joint ceremony of raising the Crimean Tatar flag together with leader of the Crimean Tatars Mustafa Dzhemilev and chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Refat Chubarov at the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, according to an UNIAN correspondent.
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Kuleba said that today, on the Day of the Crimean Tatar flag, the flag was hoisted not only in the capital city of Kyiv, but also in all foreign diplomatic institutions.
The minister said protecting the rights of Crimean Tatars who remained in illegally occupied Crimea and de-occupation of the peninsula would always be his priority in office.
"We will not stop until this flag, which we're raising today along with the Ukrainian flag, is flown in all cities and towns of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol. I'm not saying this now as a diplomatic romantic, but as a serious diplomatic pragmatist," Kuleba said.
Activists and acclaimed public figures gathered at the ceremony at the Foreign Ministry building, including former Kremlin political prisoner Volodymyr Balukh, journalist Ayder Muzhdabaev, and deputy chairman of the Mejlis Ilmi Umerov.
Addressing the audience, Chubarov said the Crimean Tatars, Crimea, and Ukraine cannot exist separately, and expressed confidence in the inevitability of Crimea de-occupation.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin scheduled a vote on amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation for July 1. The amendments provide that Putin will be able to run for another two presidential terms after 2024.
