Zelensky Says Only Diplomacy Will Allow Crimea to be Restored to Ukraine

Kyiv: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that diplomatic efforts alone, not military action, will enable the restoration of Crimea, taken by Russia in 2014. Zelensky said in an interview with Fox News that many lives would be sacrificed in such an operation, so Ukraine could not afford the great human cost of a military assault to reclaim Crimea. He underlined Ukraine's legal inability to acknowledge any seized area as part of Russia, including Crimea, and underlined that diplomacy is the chosen path for peninsula recovery.

Zelensky also went over his "victory plan," which calls for Russian forces to be totally pulled out from Ukrainian territory. Ukraine has suggested a peace formula to help to resolve the crisis, but Zelensky has emphasized that any agreement had to include security assurances and Ukraine's potential NATO membership—which Russia has angrily rejected. Russia has occupied roughly 20% of Ukraine's territory, including Crimea, since its full-scale invasion in February 2022; it is not entirely under control these areas.

Russia's annexation of Crimea coincided with a 2014 revolution in Ukraine that resulted in the flight of a ruler inclined toward Russia. This heightened the strife since Russian-backed troops also seized areas of eastern Ukraine. While highlighting the need of a peaceful approach to bring the war to an end, Zelensky's diplomatic posture differs from past rhetoric. Still, he advocates Ukraine's territorial integrity.