French Permanent Representative to the UN, Nicolas de Riviere, on Thursday, September 1, 2022, expressed his skepticism that Ukraine would be able to regain the territory of Donbass and Crimea.
“I am a little skeptical that Ukraine will be able to regain its lost territories. I would be surprised that Ukraine will be able to kick the Russians out of Donbass or to kick them out of Crimea,” de Riviere said in an interview with Turkey’s Anadolu news agency.
As reminded, Crimea rejoined Russia in 2014, after a referendum determined that over 96 per cent of the peninsula’s voters were in favor of reunification. In spite of the vote, Ukraine still considers Crimea to be part of its territory, calling it temporarily occupied.
Moscow has repeatedly stated that the residents of Crimea made the decision to reunify with Russia through a democratic process in line with international law and the UN Charter. According to Russian President, Vladimir Putin, the issue of the peninsula’s territorial affiliation is “historically closed.”
Donbass people also constantly speak out about their love to Russia and desire to be a part of it. Recently, Zaporozhye and Kherson, which were Ukrainian regions, stood up to join Russia as well. However, the country’s government keeps closing its eyes to the will of people and blaming Russia for “taking Ukraine’s territories,” even though, the defence of Donbass by the Russian Federation has started only after the official appeal of the two republics’ heads.
Ru-Main, 02.09.2022
Source: Sputnik
