(Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy acknowledged that the Crimean peninsula, which was seized by Russia in 2014, should be restored to Ukrainian sovereignty through diplomacy.
Zelenskiy, interviewed by Fox News on a train in Ukraine and broadcast Wednesday, said his country cannot afford to lose the number of lives it would take to retake Crimea by military means.
He again rejected any idea of ceding any territory already occupied by Moscow's forces, saying Ukraine “cannot legally recognize any occupied territory of Ukraine as Russian.”
“I already said that we are ready to bring Crimea back diplomatically,” Zelenskiy told Fox News through an interpreter.
“We cannot spend tens of thousands of our people dying because Crimea is coming back… and yet it is not a fact that we can bring Crimea back with the arms in our hands. We understand that Crimea can be brought back diplomatically.”
Russia captured and annexed Crimea in 2014 after a popular uprising prompted a Russia-friendly president to flee the country and Russian allies seized parts of territory in eastern Ukraine.
Since Russia's large-scale invasion in February 2022, its forces have captured about a fifth of Ukrainian territory and declared the annexation of four provinces, although Moscow does not fully control any of them.
Zelensky has proposed a peace formula and a “victory plan” backed by the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine. But his recent calls have emphasized security guarantees for his country and an invitation to join NATO, an idea Moscow rejected out of hand.
(Reporting by Ron Popeski in Winnipeg; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
