And he said Zelensky In an interview with Fox News on a train in Ukraine It was broadcast on Wednesday that his country could not afford to lose the number of lives needed to restore Crimea By military means.
He again rejected any talk of giving up any territory it already occupied Moscow troopssaying that Ukraine “It cannot legally recognize any occupied territory in Ukraine as Russian.”
“I have already stated that we are ready to return Crimea diplomatically,” Zelensky told Fox News through a translator.
He added: “We cannot sacrifice tens of thousands of our people for the sake of a semi-return Crimea…And we still can’t get it back with the weapons we have. We realize that Crimea can be returned diplomatically.”
Russia seized and annexed Crimea in 2014 after a popular uprising prompted a pro-Russian president to flee Ukraine and Moscow’s proxies seized vast swaths of territory in the east of the former Soviet republic.
Since the massive invasion in February 2022, Russian forces have seized about a fifth of Ukraine’s territory and announced the annexation of 4 regions, although Moscow does not fully control any of them.
Zelensky proposed a peace formula and a “victory plan” based on withdrawal Russian forces from UkraineHowever, his recent calls stressed the need to give his country security guarantees and an invitation to join NATOThis is an idea that Moscow was quick to reject.
