Zelenskyy: Solutions that don't involve liberating Crimea are a "waste of time"

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is prepared to consider "non-military means" of returning Crimea under Ukraine’s control, but believes that the options that do not involve liberating the peninsula from Russian occupation a "waste of time."

Source: Zelenskyy in an interview with Financial Times

Quote: "I understand that everyone is confused by the situation and what will happen to Crimea. If someone is ready to offer us a way regarding the de-occupation of Crimea by non-military means, I will only be in favour. If the solution [does not involve] de-occupation and [Crimea] is part of the Russian Federation, no one should waste their time on this. It’s a waste of time."

Details: The Financial Times wrote that some of Ukraine’s western partners are concerned that any attempt by Ukraine to take back Crimea could lead to a dangerous escalation by Moscow, possibly even the use of nuclear weapons.

Zelenskyy acknowledged that the fate of Crimea was rising on the international agenda.

The president said the attacks targeting civilian infrastructure showed Moscow had no intention of negotiating an end to the war. 

Zelenskyy said Russia’s new strategy to destroy Ukraine’s infrastructure and plunge it into darkness would not weaken the country’s resolve to liberate all occupied land.

He insisted there would be no lasting resolution to the war unless Russia withdrew from all the territories it was occupying.

"We must return all lands…because I believe that the battlefield is the way when there is no diplomacy," Zelenskyy told the Financial Times. "If you can’t get your land back entirely, the war is simply frozen".

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