KYIV — Ukraine has not changed its plans for the return of territory occupied by Russia, including Crimea.
“Ukraine will choose the way to bring Crimea back, using political and military means,” Tamila Tasheva, the Ukrainian president’s envoy on Crimea, told POLITICO.
“To minimize Ukrainian military losses, minimize threats to civilians who live in occupied territories, as well as the destruction of civilian infrastructure, Ukraine plans to give Russia a choice on how to leave Crimea.
If they don’t agree to leave voluntarily, Ukraine will continue to liberate its land by military means,” Tasheva added.
“We are ready to open [a] diplomatic page to discuss this issue,” Sybiha said in the interview, referring to Kyiv’s long-planned counteroffensive.
Until the invasion of 2022, Ukraine saw political and diplomatic talks as the main way to get Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, back under Kyiv’s control.
But we are already thinking on ways of how to reintegrate it in the best way,” Danilov told POLITICO. »