There is suddenly a flurry of diplomatic activity as President Zelensky invites Putin to a revamped Minsk2 format talks.
As reported by UNIAN, Zelensky said,
"You and I, U.S. President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron. Venue? I think Alexander Lukashenko will be glad to welcome us in Minsk. We do not change or reject any diplomatic formats. We suggest you to talk. We need to talk, don't we?" (UNIAN : 8 July 2019) (my emphasis)
What is even more interesting is the fact that Putin responded to this invitation by stating that,
“We have never refused any of the proposed formats, including the expansion of the Norman format,” Putin said.
And it concerns the status of Ukraine's Crimea.
As reported by UNIAN,
"Former member of the Russian State Duma Ilya Ponomarev (left) has said Ukraine will get Crimea back only "over Mr. Putin's dead body." (UNIAN : 11 July 2019) (my emphasis)
Which rather poses an interesting question viz.
"If, in the mind of Putin, Crimea will always remain a part of Russia, irrespective or not of his demise, will Zelensky's proposal of a new Minsk summit revolve primarily around the ceasing of hostilities in the Donbas, and the return of the Donbas under Ukraine's control?"
Where, then, will the return of Crimea to Ukraine fit into the deliberations of this Minsk summit?
Now remember that US president Trump is already on record as stating that Crimea now belongs to Putin's Russia.
Even before he was elected president he stated that,
""I'm going to take a look at it," Trump said in an interview broadcast on July 31 on the U.S. television program This Week. "But you know, the people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were. And you have to look at that, also." (RFERL : 1 August 2016) (my emphasis)
Then, after being elected into the White House with the help of Putin, Trump re-iterated his belief that Ukraine's Crimea IS part of Russia at a briefing in Washington on June 14 2018, just over 1 year ago.
And shortly following on from this briefing in Washington, we had that infamous meeting between Trump and Putin in Helsinki (16 July 2018).
And just prior to this infamous meeting, Siobhan Morrin reported that,
"At least one topic of discussion appears off the table for President Donald Trump's upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin: Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Putin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters Monday that the status of Crimea "can not and will never be on the agenda because it is an inseparable part of Russia," according to Agence France-Presse. (Time : 2 July, 2018) (my emphasis)
Now recall that in a previous blog entry (25 May, 2019), I wrote that,
"Perhaps a direct confirmation that the Minsk2 "indispensable pre-conditions" have now morphed into "aspirations" in the eyes of Zelensky and Merkel derives from the fact that,
"The newly-appointed chief of Ukraine’s General Staff, Ruslan Khomchak, appointed (left) by President Vladimir Zelensky two days ago, believes that Kiev had lost Crimea long before 2014.
...
[He reminisced that] "I bought a voucher to a health resort in Alupka," Khomchak said. "When the holiday was over, I told myself I would never go there again, because what I’d seen was really shocking. It was a sad ruin of what was left of the Soviet Union… I kept asking myself: ‘Is this Ukraine?’" (Tass : 24 May, 2019) (my emphasis)"
So even Zelensky's new Chief of General Staff has intimated that Ukraine's Crimea was lost to Russia long before 2014.
Where, then, does Zelensky stand on the issue of the return of Ukraine's Crimea?
(to be continued)
As reported by UNIAN, Zelensky said, "You and I, U.S. President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron. Venue? I think Alexander Lukashenko will be glad to welcome us in Minsk. We do not change or reject any diplomatic formats. We suggest you to talk. We need to talk, don't we?" (UNIAN : 8 July 2019) (my emphasis)
YouTube (8 July 2019) Chinese Gov. News
What is even more interesting is the fact that Putin responded to this invitation by stating that,
“We have never refused any of the proposed formats, including the expansion of the Norman format,” Putin said.
- “But, first, this Norman format and summits should be well prepared, this is an obvious thing,” the Russian leader said.
- "Secondly, more or less something can be said after the final formation of the new government of Ukraine and the holding of elections to the country's parliament," said the president.
- “Thirdly, I don’t know how other participants of the proposed format react [to this invitation],” Putin added. (TASS (Google Translate): 11 July 2019) (my emphasis)
And it concerns the status of Ukraine's Crimea.
As reported by UNIAN,
"Former member of the Russian State Duma Ilya Ponomarev (left) has said Ukraine will get Crimea back only "over Mr. Putin's dead body." (UNIAN : 11 July 2019) (my emphasis)Which rather poses an interesting question viz.
"If, in the mind of Putin, Crimea will always remain a part of Russia, irrespective or not of his demise, will Zelensky's proposal of a new Minsk summit revolve primarily around the ceasing of hostilities in the Donbas, and the return of the Donbas under Ukraine's control?"
Where, then, will the return of Crimea to Ukraine fit into the deliberations of this Minsk summit?
Now remember that US president Trump is already on record as stating that Crimea now belongs to Putin's Russia.
Even before he was elected president he stated that,
""I'm going to take a look at it," Trump said in an interview broadcast on July 31 on the U.S. television program This Week. "But you know, the people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were. And you have to look at that, also." (RFERL : 1 August 2016) (my emphasis)
Then, after being elected into the White House with the help of Putin, Trump re-iterated his belief that Ukraine's Crimea IS part of Russia at a briefing in Washington on June 14 2018, just over 1 year ago.
And shortly following on from this briefing in Washington, we had that infamous meeting between Trump and Putin in Helsinki (16 July 2018).
And just prior to this infamous meeting, Siobhan Morrin reported that,
"At least one topic of discussion appears off the table for President Donald Trump's upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin: Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Putin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters Monday that the status of Crimea "can not and will never be on the agenda because it is an inseparable part of Russia," according to Agence France-Presse. (Time : 2 July, 2018) (my emphasis)
Now recall that in a previous blog entry (25 May, 2019), I wrote that,
"Perhaps a direct confirmation that the Minsk2 "indispensable pre-conditions" have now morphed into "aspirations" in the eyes of Zelensky and Merkel derives from the fact that,
"The newly-appointed chief of Ukraine’s General Staff, Ruslan Khomchak, appointed (left) by President Vladimir Zelensky two days ago, believes that Kiev had lost Crimea long before 2014....
[He reminisced that] "I bought a voucher to a health resort in Alupka," Khomchak said. "When the holiday was over, I told myself I would never go there again, because what I’d seen was really shocking. It was a sad ruin of what was left of the Soviet Union… I kept asking myself: ‘Is this Ukraine?’" (Tass : 24 May, 2019) (my emphasis)"
So even Zelensky's new Chief of General Staff has intimated that Ukraine's Crimea was lost to Russia long before 2014.
Where, then, does Zelensky stand on the issue of the return of Ukraine's Crimea?
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