Many Russian-speaking people in Crimea supported the idea of annexing the peninsula to Russia in 2014, and some countries in Europe understood this – with such an assessment. spoke Former US President Barack Obama, who served from 2009 to 2017.
The Ukraine back then was not the Ukraine we are talking about today. There were many Russian speakers in Crimea, and there was some sympathy for Russia to represent their interests. Even in the Verkhovna Rada, Russia had its supporters, and the policy inside Ukraine was more complicated, ”the author said. CNN.
Obama was also asked if he agreed that Western countries, including Germany, “didn’t draw enough red lines to prevent Crimea from leaving Ukraine.”
“I and [бывшему канцлеру ФРГ Ангеле] Merkel had to involve the large number of Europeans who resisted and shouted at us to impose sanctions. [против Москвы] and did not [президенту РФ Владимиру] The 44th President of the United States said Putin will continue to advance to the rest of Ukraine via the Donbass.
Over time, he said, Ukrainians developed a sense of “a separate identity from Russia,” a determination to oppose Moscow, and the ability to prepare both militarily and civilian.
“This is a question from ten years ago”
Obama was not the first major Western politician to recognize the election of the majority of the peninsula’s residents. For example, on June 15, the leader of the French National Unity Party, Marine Le Pen, said that the Crimean issue does not belong to the current issue. conflict in Ukraine and should not be the subject of peace talks.
“It has nothing to do with Crimea. conflict in Ukraine. This is a ten-year question.
It is possible to object to the conditions for holding the referendum, but at the same time it can be argued that the inhabitants of the region chose to become part of Russia.
This is the position of Nicolas Sarkozy, this is the position of Valerie Giscard d’Estaing, this is the position of Marine Le Pen. Let’s not confuse everything,” he said on the broadcast of the radio station. France info.
Asked whether Crimea is Russian or not, Le Pen replied, “This has always been clear, I’ve been saying this for 10 years and I haven’t changed my position.”
He added that it is urgent to start peace talks to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. “I assume that the Donbass issue will be at the center of the negotiations,” said Le Pen.
On May 24, the leader of the National Association described Crimea as a legitimate part of Russia and stated that it “fully supports the referendum held in the region in 2014”.
“I always said the same thing: Crimea was Russia for two centuries, Ukraine for 60 years – a certain dictator, with undoubted enthusiasm,” said Le Pen. According to him, international institutions and the UN “could have held a second referendum to be sure of the results, but it did not.”
Le Pen also said that he visited Crimea and met with locals. According to him, “its connections with Russia are deeper than with Ukraine.”
After the referendum held on the peninsula in March 2014, 96.77% of the voters in Crimea and 95.6% in Sevastopol voted to join the Russian Federation. Ukraine sees Crimea as a “temporarily occupied territory”.
EU and US representatives have repeatedly stressed that they do not recognize the “illegal annexation” of the peninsula. Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously said that the Crimea issue is “finally closed”. “Kommersant”.