Ukraine Army successes to pave way for Crimea return – Mejlis official

To liberate Crimea through diplomacy, Ukraine needs battlefield successes of its Armed Forces, and this battlefield does not necessarily have to be on the peninsula.

The opinion was expressed in a comment to Ukrinform by the Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, Nariman Dzhelal.

"I understand what the President Ukrainian officials have to say... On the one hand, I agree with our President, and on the other hand, I have to say that after all, and I’m sure that the President understands this well, it is the wins and successes of our Armed Forces of Ukraine that will lay down for us the very diplomatic path he is talking about. Therefore, I continue insisting that Crimea will be liberated primarily through military means," he said.

Dzhelal explained that this does not necessarily imply that hostilities will be taking place on the peninsula.

According to the official, it is battlefield gains that will provide Ukraine with a better negotiating position to achieve a just peace.

“When we talk about the military path, we are talking precisely about this,” explained the former Russian political prisoner.

Against the backdrop of political and geopolitical shifts across the world, including in the countries that support Ukraine the most, people of Crimea are forced to “fight for attention,” the representative of the Mejlis emphasized.

“And I think that because of this, taking all these circumstances into account, the President is changing his rhetoric. Because he knows more, something we’re yet to become aware of… We have to take everything into account. And unfortunately, realities do not always allow us to stick to the rhetoric that we used just recently,” concluded Dzhelal, who is currently on a visit to Berlin for a number of meetings.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky recently stated in an interview with the Japanese news agency Kyodo News that the Ukrainian Army currently has not enough strength to regain Crimea therefore diplomatic paths must be found to this end.