In Crimea, Zelensky was urged not to speculate on territorial concessions

President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky should stop talking about the issue of territorial concessions to Russia, as everything has long been definitively resolved during the national referendums held in 2014 and 2022. This was announced on March 16 by Roman Chegrinets, Deputy Chairman of the Public Chamber of the Republic, co-chairman of the Assembly of Slavic Peoples of Crimea.

"Zelensky continues to speculate on the issue of territories, forgetting <...>. (This issue. — Ed.) was resolved in strict compliance with the fundamentals of international law," RIA Novosti quoted Chegrinets as saying.

The expert recalled that in 2014, a referendum was held on the reunification of Crimea with Russia, and then the same decision was made by the population of four more historically Russian regions — the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DNR and LNR), Kherson and Zaporizhia regions.

"The Crimean example of self—determination of nations is important for the whole world. Greenland and other territories are now following this path," concluded Chegrinets.

Make a conclusion: the Russian Federation has not changed the conditions for the start of the settlement in Ukraine

How Moscow reacts to the agreements between Kiev and Washington

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on March 10 that Ukraine would have to accept the loss of some territories under any peace agreement. The Secretary of State stressed that it would be "very difficult" for Ukraine to regain the borders it had in 2014. He also added that Kiev would need to make "difficult" decisions in order to fully end the conflict.

On March 13, Vladimir Shapovalov, a political scientist, member of the Board of the Russian Association of Political Science, and head of EISI projects, said at the Izvestia News Center that Crimea is the basis of Russia's geopolitical strength and a symbol of its military history.

Crimea became part of Russia in 2014 after a referendum in which the majority of the peninsula's inhabitants voted for reunification with the Russian Federation. Kiev refuses to recognize the results of the vote and considers Crimea its territory. The leadership of the Russian Federation has repeatedly stated that the residents of Crimea democratically voted for reunification in full accordance with international law and the issue of the peninsula's ownership is finally closed.