Zelenskyy reacts to WSJ article on US proposal to recognise Crimea as Russian
www.pravda.com.ua
Tue, 22 Apr 2025 20:20:06 +0300
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was asked at a press conference to comment on reports from The Wall Street Journal indicating that the US proposes recognising Crimea as Russian, rejecting Ukraines aspirations to join NATO, and creating a neutral zone around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant NPP under US control.
Source Zelenskyy at a press conference aired by Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne Quote As soon as we start discussing Crimea, our sovereign territories, we enter the format of prolonging the war this is exactly what Russia wants.
Weve been at war for 12 years.
This is the answer to the question of whether it is possible to reach an agreement with Russia on the territories.
Details Regarding media reports about the proposal to recognise Crimea as Russian, Zelenskyy noted that these are signals, ideas, visions, you can call them different names.
But these are not official proposals to Ukraine.
Zelenskyy pointed out that it was unclear whose proposals these were whether they represented the US vision or were the result of the Americans discussions with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.
Quote But Ukraine does not legally recognise Crimea as Russian, it is outside our Constitution.
This is our territory, the territory of the people of Ukraine.
This will not happen, I think weve declared this in relation to any temporarily occupied territory.
And the Constitution of Ukraine declares this by its existence.
Details Zelenskyy added that the Ukrainian delegation of senior officials will be mandated to discuss an unconditional or partial ceasefire on 23 April.
Were ready for this stage.
Were also ready to record that after the ceasefire, were ready to sit down in any format so that there is no impasse, the Ukrainian leader stressed.
Regarding NATO, Zelenskyy is confident that the United States and Russia have a dialogue on NATO membership of Ukraine.
However, no one except NATO countries has the right to veto Ukraines accession to the Alliance, he added.
Regarding the Zaporizhzhia NPP, Zelenskyy noted that it cannot operate without Ukraine, emphasising that the United States will need Ukrainian technical staff.
Quote If we, together with the United States, rebuild the nuclear power plant when the Russians leave and we earn money from electricity, then this is a normal situation.
But there has been no official proposal for the Zaporizhzhia NPP.
Ukraine is not against a partnership with America to recover any facility.
Background The Wall Street Journal noted in an article that the United States is waiting for Kyivs response, particularly regarding the recognition of Crimea as Russian and Ukraines refusal to join NATO.
In addition, Washington is considering the idea of a neutral territory around the Zaporizhzhia NPP.
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